Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – Manila Electric Co. subsidiary MRAIL Inc. and the International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) are considering reviving a plan to build a P10 billion container rail service to provide more efficient movement of goods and help decongest ports and roads. MRAIL is also interested in undertaking the Mindanao Rail project mentioned by President Rodrigo Duterte during his first State of the Nation Address (SONA). Ferdinand Inacay, president and CEO of MRAIL, told reporters yesterday that the company together with ICTSI intends to pursue the proposed railway project. The railway service from Manila to Calamba, was operated by ICTSI from 1998 but was suspended in 2002. Under the proposal, the first phase involves reviving the connection from Manila to Calamba by linking  Manila International Container Terminal and Laguna Gateway Inland Container Terminal,  both operated by ICTSI. For the rail service, MRAIL will own the trains which will use the tracks of the Philippine National Railways for a fee. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The rail service involves the rehabilitation of the existing PNR tracks, restoring the Tutuban to the Port of Manila tracks that traverse through the center of C.M. Recto Ave., and the construction of the stabling yard in Calamba for the container trains. Inacay said it would take two years to implement the project from contract signing and start of rehabilitation work. He said they are hopeful their proposal would be approved and rehabilitation works could start by the fourth quarter this Read More …

HEIGHTENED de-risking among foreign correspondent banks likely led to slower growth in monthly remittance inflows, a senior central bank official said, even though more Filipinos are leaving the country to pursue jobs abroad.

This column was originally published on July 21 and is being reprinted in this issue because of a computer error that garbled parts of the originally published piece. We apologize to Mr. Villalon for the error. — Ed. Change has come even in the field of real estate broker licensure examinations.

The connector road project which has an estimated construction cost of P15.74 billion and right-of-way cost of P7.46 billion, involves an elevated four-lane, eight-kilometer tolled expressway starting at NLEX Segment 10 at C-3 or Fifth Avenue, Caloocan City and connecting to the SLEX, through Stage 3 of the Metro Manila Skyway System Project in Manila. STAR/File photo MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is set to award to a unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) the contract for the North Luzon Expressway – South Luzon Expressway (NLEX-SLEX) connector road after no comparative proposals were submitted yesterday. “As of today, because there is no other proponent, no challenger…so we have to prepare resolution of award recommending Metro Pacific and it will be submitted to the Secretary,” Public Works assistant secretary Eugenio Pipo Jr., who is also the Special Bids and Awards Committee chairman for civil works, told reporters. He said the project would be awarded to the original proponent Metro Pacific Tollways Development Corp. (MPTDC) within the week. The contract is expected to be signed by November. A Swiss challenge was conducted for the project as it is an unsolicited proposal received by the government from MPTDC in April 2010. Among the firms which expressed interest in the project by purchasing bid documents are San Miguel Holdings Corp., Obrascon Huarte Lain SA, Hunan Road and Bridge Corp. and four law firms. The connector road project which has an estimated construction cost of P15.74 billion and Read More …