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Philippine National Railways.

The administration of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is actively pursuing

the rehabilitation of PNR through various investments and projects

designed to revive Philippine rail transport. However, the situation

is still hampered by numerous problems.

NORTHRAIL PROJECT:

Imagine uprooting 40,000 families — twice the entire population

of the municipality of San Juan, Metro Manila — and relocating them

elsewhere.

By any stretch of the imagination, this would be a logistical and

sociological nightmare. The financial cost alone would also be

staggering. This is exactly what is happening in the government

program to relocate those who will be displaced by the North Rail

Project. The Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council

(HUDCC) estimates that the government needs to shell out at least

P6.6 billion in resettlement costs, but it is not clear where this

money is going to come from.

The Senate began last week hearings on the controversial North

Rail project, which envisions the rehabilitation of the north line

of the old Philippine National Railways (PNR). So far the hearings

have focused on the allegedly onerous and illegal provisions of the

North Rail contract, inked by the government with a Chinese company.

Little attention has been given to the fact that rebuilding and

extending the 80-kilometer railway, a project intended to spur

economic growth in Central and Northern Luzon, also means evicting

more than 200,000 poor people who live alongside the railroad tracks.

This would make it the biggest — and costliest — resettlement

project ever undertaken by the Philippine government.

Apart from financing difficulties, the North Rail relocation program

is beset by the same problems that have hounded government

relocation projects elsewhere: corruption, inefficiency, the lack

of a comprehensive relocation program, and a general disregard for

the views and the needs of the poor people who are facing eviction.

Read on here.
Source: Philippine Center For Investigative Journalism.

 

NORTHRAIL:  AFTER  P11 BILLION,  WHERE'S  THE  RAILROAD?

MANILA, JULY 6, 2008 (STAR) By Jess Diaz - After the government

spent nearly P11 billion for the North Luzon railway, the next question

is: Where is the railroad?

“The government has advanced $150 million to the Chinese contractor.

At the present exchange rate, that is more than P6.8 billion. The

clearing of squatters along the railroad has cost taxpayers at least

P4 billion. In all, expenses have reached a staggering P10.8 billion,”

Harry Roque told reporters.

Roque said all that has been accomplished was the clearing of squatters

by a task force led by Vice President Noli de Castro, who chairs the

Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council.

He said the Chinese firm contracted to do the project, China National

Machinery and Equipment Group (CNMEG), “has nothing to show for

the $150 million advanced to it.”

“Company officials are claiming that the bulk of the money has been

paid to corrupt Philippine officials in the form of bribes,” he said.

 

 

 

 

Philippine National Railways.

Philippine National Railways (Filipino: Pambansang Daangbakal ng

Pilipinas), also known by its acronym, PNR, is a state-owned railway

system in the Philippines, organized under the Department of

Transportation and Communications.

The PNR network consists of two main rail lines: the North Main

Line, commonly known as Northrail, and the South Main Line,

likewise known as Southrail.

Northrail has been abandoned since the late 1980s. It was a

266-kilometer (165-mile) line stretching from Manila to San Fernando

City in La Union, with a 55-kilometer (34-mile) branch line

starting in Tarlac City and ending in San Jose City in Nueva Ecija.

Southrail is a 479-kilometer (267-mile) line from Manila to Legazpi

City in Albay, with a 5-kilometer branch line starting in San Pedro

in Laguna and ending in Carmona in Cavite, as well as two other

branch lines connecting Calamba with Batangas City, and Los Baños

with Santa Cruz in Laguna. There also existed a branch line from

Santa Mesa in Manila to Barangay Hulo in Mandaluyong City although

this no longer exists. The Southrail to Naga and Legaspi was

abandoned two years ago.

To my knowledge trains are now only servicing the Tutuban – Alabang

& Biñan stretch. Note that a one way ticket for a two hour ride will

cost you only 16 pesos (about 0.20 USD). But don't expect to travel

in first class...

Once you pass through the main building of what is the “central station”

you arrive near the railway tracks. To be honest it looks more like

a huge junk yard than a train station. It is not really clear to me

which trains are still considered suited for travel.  

Philippine National railways - A short history.

The island of Luzon has been endowed with nature’s blessings but

only slightly stirred by trade and commercial activity. The galleons

that plowed the seas to and from Mexico offered some awesome

sights to the Filipinos at that time. Under these prevailing conditions,

the railroad was introduced as means of exploiting the untapped

riches of the virgin island of Luzon.

On June 25, 1875, by virtue of royal decree of King Alfonso XII of

Spain, required Inspector of Public Works of the Philippine Island to

submit a general plan for the establishment of a railroad line in the

island of Luzon.

After five months of conscientious study, Don Eduardo Lopez Navarro,

head of the Public Works Office submitted the plan called “Memoria

Sobre el Plan General de Ferrocarilles en la Isla de Luzon.” The plan

was granted for its implementation. On June 1, 1887, a concession

for the construction of a railway line from Manila to Dagupan,

Pangasinan was awarded to Don Edmundo Sykes of the Ferrocaril de

Manila-Dagupan, the original corporate name of Manila Railway Company

Ltd. of London.

On July 31, 1887, the cornerstore was laid at the present site of its

main terminal building at Tutuban, Manila. Five years later, on

November 24, 1892, the first 195 kilometer railway line from Manila

to Dagupan in Northern Luzon was opened for operation.

On February 4, 1916, the Philippine Legislaturer passed Act. No. 2547

acquiring the then Manila Railroad Company (MRR). Construction of lines

continued such that by 1940, the railway had been extended up to Legaspi,

Albay in the South and to San Fernando, La Union in he north. Branch lines

were constructed from Paniqui, Tarlac to San Quintin, Pangasinan; from

Tarlac, Tarlac to San Jose, Nueva Ecija; from Bigaa, Bulacan to

Cabanatuan City; from San Fernando, Pampanga to Carmen, Pangasinan;

from College to Sta. Cruz, Laguna and from Sta. Mesa to Hulo in

Mandaluyong.

The Second World War brought considerable damages to the system.

The United States Army, which had temporarily gained control of the

Company, after the war in 1945, was able to restore 40% of the pre-war lines.

On February 1, 1946, the control of the railway system was turned over

to the Philippine Government. Of the 1,140 route-kilometers before

the war, only 452 route-kilometers were made operational. Since then,

the activities were concentrated on the rehabilitation and/or reconstruction

of damaged railway facilities. The period 1954-1957 marked the dieselization

program of the Company. Steam engines were retired and replaced by

diesel electric engines.

On June 20, 1946, Republic Act No. 4156, the new Charter was passed,

renaming the Company to what it is today – Philippine National Railways (PNR).

This law had been amended twice: first Republic Act No. 6366 enacted

on August 20, 1971 which provided for the rehabilitation and selective

modernization program of the Philippine National Railways; and the second

by Presidential Decree No. 741 issued on July 3, 1975 which raised the

capital stock to P1.5 billion.

Source: Philippine National Railways

Philippine National Railways (PNR) - 2008

 

This series is about the Philippine National Railways (PNR) and

more particularly the train ride between the Tutuban and the Alabang

stations in Metro Manila. To be honest it is probably the most

depressing and disheartening train ride you can do in the world.

You pass through landscapes that would perfectly fit into a war

torn country.

It is a tale of mismanagement, of neglect, of corruption, of

greed and of poverty…

I am convinced that a first class railroad could have existed in this

country if there had been the political will to maintain or build one. 

This series can also be seen as a continuation of my photo series

“Life along the railway tracks” that I made in June 2006.

To be honest a lot of things changed in the right direction. Thousands

of squatters living along the railways have been relocated.

There is serious work going on to renovate the railway tracks

between the Tutuban and Alabang Stations. New train stations are

built along the way and it all looks very promising.

More than 20 diesel engines and coaches are expected to be

delivered from China early next year and according to some people

I spoke there will be a train every 30 minutes servicing the

Tutuban-Alabang stretch.

That being said, I seriously doubt if I will ever have the pleasure

to travel by train from San Fernando to Sorsogon… 

This series is very distressing and even if I can show some

improvements since my last photo shoot it still looks terrible.

  The following pictures were taken in March and in November of 2008.

Manuel L. Quezon III did an outstanding job in summarizing the sad

state of the Philippine Railways in his blog entry named

“Planes, trains and automobiles”. For the people interested in the

Philippine Railways Manolo’s entry is a must read.

PNR fanatics can have regular updates on the Philippine Railway SIG blog.

I know that some people will accuse me of putting the Philippines

in a bad light again. You can read all about it in some comments I

got in response to my series “The lost children of Manila”.

I want to stress that I have no hidden agenda, I don’t sell my

pictures and I don’t want any recognition.  Photography is mainly

a hobby and a way to document my life in the Philippines. I just

share what I see and my main purpose is to show life “as it is”.

No special effects, no Photoshop tricks. What you get is what I see.

There are a lot of other photo bloggers who do a wonderful job in

promoting the Philippines as a holiday heaven and they don’t need

my voice.  Estan Cabigas in Estanli, Allan Bareddo in Lantaw,

  Fertz in En Route, Oggie Ramos in Lagalog , Dong Ho in Eskapo,

Tutubi in Budget Travel Philippines and in the Lawstude’s journeys.

So let’s start our trip…

Central (main) station in Tutuban.

 

La Naval de Manila.

For those interested in La Naval de Manila I recommend the the

photo coverage of Estan Cabigas one of my favorite Filipino

photographers. You can find his coverage here.

La Naval de Manila.

La Naval de Manila.

La Naval de Manila.

La Naval de Manila.

During the festival, the statue of Nuestra Señora del Rosario de la

Naval is brought out of the church following by carrozas carrying

images of Dominican Saints. The procession goes around in the

main streets of Sto. Domingo Parish and is back at about 7pm.
The Saints in the Procession of La Naval de Manila are:

• San Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila

• Beata Juana de Aza

• Beata Margarita de Castelo

• Santo Tomas Khuong

• San Francisco de Capillas

• San Vicente de la Paz

• Santa Magdalena de Nagasaki

• San Juan Macias

• San Martin de Porres

• Santa Rosa de Lima

• Santa Catalina de Ricci

• San Juan de Colonia

• San Luis Beltran

• San Pio Quinto

• San Vicente Ferrer

• San Antonino de Florencia

• Santa Catalina de Sena

• Santa Ines de Montepulciano

• San Alberto Magno

• San Raymundo de Peñafort

• Santo Tomas de Aquino

• Santa Margarita de Ungria

• San Jacinto de Polonia

• San Pedro Martir

• Santo Domingo de Guzman

• San Jose

 

La Naval de Manila.