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The Philippines
This Week in AsiaEconomics

Bidding for China-funded railway in Philippines to start soon under Duterte’s infrastructure build-up

  • Chinese companies will soon be able to bid for the 71km Subic-Clark Railway Project under the “Build, build, build” infrastructure initiative
  • But due to their size and scale, many of these projects are unlikely to be finished before the end of President Rodrigo Duterte’s term in 2022

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Vivencio Dizon, presidential adviser on flagship programmes and projects. Photo: Phila Siu
Raissa Robles
Bidding for a railway funded by the Chinese government will start in a few weeks in the Philippines, but the project will not be completed during Rodrigo Duterte’s presidency, the official in charge of his ambitious “build, build, build” infrastructure programme said on Monday.
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Vivencio “Vince” Dizon, who was appointed earlier this month as Duterte’s presidential adviser on flagship programmes and projects, said he hopes construction of the 71km Subic-Clark Railway Project (SCRP) can begin by the second half of next year. The goal is to have it “substantially completed” by 2022, which is when Duterte’s term ends.

The project, estimated to cost 50 billion pesos (US$960 million), was originally “targeted” for commercial operation within Duterte’s term.

However, it was delayed when one of the three Chinese companies which the Chinese government had shortlisted to bid as contractors was disqualified for an unspecified reason by the Philippine government. Department of Transport and Communications Secretary Arthur Tugade told reporters last month that Philippine bidding laws require three bidders.

Subic Bay, where the Subic-Clark Railway Project will start. Photo: Handout
Subic Bay, where the Subic-Clark Railway Project will start. Photo: Handout
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Railway projects have featured heavily in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature Belt and Road Initiative, an ambitious multibillion-dollar infrastructure financing effort to boost global connectivity. In Southeast Asia, Chinese firms are involved in Malaysia’s 640km East Coast Rail Link and a 142km railway between the Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Bandung, among other things.
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