MANILA, Philippines – The government wants to fast-track the construction of a segment of the Mindanao Railway Project, identified as one of the priority infrastructure projects under the Duterte administration.

“The NEDA Secretariat has been ordered to complete the feasibility study for the most viable segment of the railway, so it would be approved by the investment coordination committee (ICC) and the NEDA board within the year. Construction will start next year,” National Economic and Development Authority deputy director general for investment programming Rolando Tungpalan said.

He said the NEDA infrastructure committee agreed to prioritize the completion of a portion of the Mindanao railway system.

“The business case study identified the whole of Mindanao, but it’s unlikely that we would be able to implement the whole railway system,” Tungpalan said.

Although there have been suggestions to include the project in the pipeline of the public-private partnership program, the NEDA official said the construction of the railway tracks would most likely be undertaken using government funds – possibly including contributions from official development assistance.

The private sector, he said, may participate in the purchase of the trains.

The 2,000-kilometer railway system is deemed crucial for economic development in Mindanao as it would improve inter-island connectivity by linking major cities including Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, Zamboanga, Butuan, Surigao, Davao and General Santos.