7 Big Consortiums compete for ₱17.5 billion Modern Cebu International Airport project

Old Mactan - Cebu International Airport 

Seven groups led by the country's largest business conglomerates, in partnership with key global aviation players, have placed bids for the ₱17.5 billion Mactan Cebu International airport project.

DOTC Undersecretary Jose Perpetuo Lotilla said the groups that submitted qualification documents yesterday included the following:

• Metro Pacific Investments
• JG Summit Airport Consortium
• AAA Airport Partners
• Filinvest Land Inc. and CAI Consortium
• San Miguel Corporation and Incheon Airport Consortium
• First Philippine Airports Consortium
• Premier Airport Group of SM Investment Corporation
• Indian-owned GMR Infrastructure and Megawide Consortium

First Pacific's MPIC of businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan has tied up with Gokongwei's JG Summit to form MPIC JGS Airport Holdings Inc. The group has tapped airport experts including French-owned Aeroports de Lyon and OVE Arup Group.

The AAA Airport Partners is led by the Ayala and Aboitiz Groups with consortium members including A2 Airport Partners as well as ADS & HAS Airports Worldwide Inc. The company has tapped Houston Airports Partners and the OVE Arup Group.

The third group is the Filinvest-CAI Consortium led by Gotianun's Filinvest Development Corporation and its foreign partner Changi Airports MENA (Middle East and North Africa) Pte Ltd. Partners include Filinvest Land Inc., Filinvest Alabang Inc., Cyberzone Properties Inc., EEI Corp., Bougues Batiment International, CPG Consultants Pte Ltd., Woods Bagot Pty Ltd., Meinhardt Philippines Inc., and Changi Airports Saudi Ltd.

On the other hand, SMC has tied up with International Airport Corporation to form the SMC-Incheon Airport Consortium that includes SMC's Optimal Infrastructure Development Inc., Incheon Airport International Corp., Mactan Capitana Holdings Inc., and Skylake Incuvest & Co. Partners are

Kumho Industrial Co. Ltd, Keun Jeong Architects and Engineers Co Ltd, and Aecom Asia Co Ltd.

The First Philippine Airports is a tandem between FPHC and Wellington-based Infratil Asia Ltd. The group's partners include Infratil's Wellington International Airport Ltd and NZ Airports Ltd as well as Rockwell Land Inc., Fentress Architects Inc., Buro Happold Consulting Engineers Inc., OVE Arup and Partners Hong Kong Ltd, Mott Macdonald Ltd, and First Balfour Inc.

Sy's Holding firm SM Investments Corp. leads the Premier Airport Group together with Citadel Holdings Inc., Zurich Airport International AG, and Prospector Investment Holdings Inc. Partners include mall developer and operator SM Prime Holdings Inc., construction giant DM Consunji Inc., and Flughafen Zurich AG.

The final group is the tandem of GMR Infrastructure Ltd of India and publicly-held Megawide Construction Corp. Partners include Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd, GMR Hyderabad International Airport, GMR Airport Developers Ltd, BL Kashyap and Sons Ltd, Vijay Nirman Co. (P) Ltd, Ove Arup and Partners Hong Kong Ltd, Louis Berger Group Inc., Foster + Partners, and Mott Macdonald Ltd.

Last year, GMR, which has presence in roads, power and airports sectors, had to make an unceremonious exit from Male International Airport after the local government cancelled its concession agreement. Currently, the matter is pending before an arbitration panel.

The Mactan-Cebu airport project involves the construction of a world-class passenger terminal building with a capacity of eight million passengers a year as well as the operation and maintenance of the old and new facilities include a 797-hectare property.

The successful bidder will be awarded a 20-year concession contract to operate, while the project will be developed in two phases at an estimated cost of ₱17.5 billion peso (the currency of Philippines).

MCIA is the second largest airport in the Philippines after Manila International Airport and had handled more than 6.2 million domestic and international passengers in 2011.

The airport is also a major gateway for various tourist destinations in central and southern provinces of Philippines.

With report from philSTAR and Times of India

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NEDA says MRT-7 and bullet train $4.43 Billion US Dollar ₱182 billion projects under BOT

MRT and Bullet Train Project of approx $4.3 Billion USD (₱182 billion Peso)

The $1.43-billion (₱53 billon) Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT-7) and the $3-billion (₱123 billon) Clark-Metro Manila Bullet Train Project will be constructed under Built-Operate-Transfer (BOT) schemes, the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) said Thursday.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will finance the $1.23-billion Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT-7). NEDA said the new MRT line will be constructed under a BOT scheme in accordance with Republic Act 7718. The initial construction will be put up in Barangay Tala in San Jose Del Monte. The new MRT line will run through Fairview, Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City Memorial Circle and North EDSA. The final station will be constructed in the Paramount theater in front of SM North EDSA and the Triangle of North Manila (TriNoMa) mall.

NEDA added that the new lane will be connected to the now operational LRT-MRT Closing Loop Interconnection Project. Once the MRT-7 Line is completed, the Paramount Station will be a Mega Rail Station.

NEDA also announced that private firm Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC) has made its intention to fund the Clark-Metro Manila bullet train project under BOT scheme. The plan is to construct the new railways between the lanes of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) because an earlier proposal to construct it parallel to the railway was scrapped due to some technical problems.

Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) said the project will be called "Express Airport Trains" which will have at least three stops in Metro Manila. CIAC said when completed, the bullet trains will shorten travel time from Clark to Manila, and vice versa, to only 45 minutes. The bullet trains' planned stopovers are Balintawak or near TriNoMa or SM North in Quezon City; Manila like Dimasalang or University of Sto. Tomas; and Makati at Buendia Avenue.

Manila Bulletin

 

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Philippines at the start of investment boom -starts an investment cycle

STARTING THE CYCLE. A CLSA equity strategist says there is "anecdotal evidence" that the Philippines is about to start an investment cycle.

There is "anecdotal evidence" that the Philippines is about to enter an investment boom.

"From a simple macro standpoint, we don't have an evidence yet of an investment cycle in the Philippines like in Indonesia and Thailand. But all the anecdotal evidence, including the PPP projects, the economy... all indications are that we will commence an investment cycle in the Philippines," Christopher Wood, an equity strategist for Hong Kong brokerage and investment firm Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia (CLSA), said.

In a CLSA study he co-authored, Wood said that Philippines' gross domestic product (GDP) data from the 4th quarter of 2012 "showed growing evidence of an investment cycle."

"Thus, the Philippines 4Q12 (4th quarter of 2012) real GDP growth accelerated to an annualized 7.5% QoQ (quarter-on-quarter) resulting in real GDP growth of 6.6% YoY (year-on-year) in 2012. But, most importantly, investment grew by 8.7% in 2012 after recording only 0.2% growth in 2011. This provides further evidence that an investment cycle is underway," the paper read.

The CLSA study said that an investment cycle would give "a third investment leg to the Philippines domestic story" on top of remittances and the BPO industry.

PPP delays

"One aspect of this investment cycle should be more rapid implementation of President Benigno Aquino's public-private partnership (PPP) program," the paper read.

Wood said that while investors are disappointed with the delays in the PPP projects, he does not think that the whole exercise is a disaster.

"Everyone's concerned about the delays. But on the other hand, I think a lot of those delays have something to do with due process, making sure that it's done properly. Provided those PPP projects are initiated over the course of the presidential term, that's the key thing, right?" he said.

"If nothing's done by the end of the presidential term, obviously that's a major negative. But from what I'm hearing, a lot of these PPP projects are in qualification stage or bidding stage. It's not like nothing's happening."

Virtuous cycle

Wood said that the Philippines is in a virtuous cycle when it comes to increased foreign investor activity in the stock market.

"The more the market goes up, the greater the number of foreign investors who can buy it because of rising liquidity," the paper read.

Wood said that this was not the case as recently as six months ago. He said that the Philippines had long been dismissed as "uninvestable" because of illiquidity.

In the 1st quarter of 2013, the PSE had an average daily trading volume of $219 million. The figure is much higher than the average of $142 million in 2012.

Foreign net buying of Philippine stocks in the 1st quarter of 2013 stood at $1 billion. The figure is nearly half of the $2.5 billion foreigners spent on Philippine stocks in 2012. -

Rappler.com

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Screening of bidders for ₱17.5-billion Cebu airport expansion set

proposed Mactan Cebu International Airport a ₱17.5-billion project Cebu airport expansion

Interested parties in the ₱17.5-billion contract that aims to renovate and expand the Mactan-Cebu International Airport are expected to submit their eligibility documents to the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) on Monday, April 22.

"We made sure that this project will also be attractive to investors in order to foster competitive and open bidding," the DOTC said Thursday.

Based on requirements laid down by the department, Philippine companies will have to partner with established airport operators from other countries as the DOTC said this will give local players an opportunity to learn from the technology employed by more advanced aviation firms.

In turn, the DOTC assured the private sector that the joint DOTC-Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIA) Prequalification, Bids, and Awards Committee (PBAC) will maintain a level playing field in the bid by upholding transparency and fairness, hallmarks of procurement reforms in the department.

Twelve companies bought bid documents for the project which include the consortium of Philippine Airlines and San Miguel Corp., Manuel Pangilinan's Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and Gokongwei's JG Summit Holdings Inc.; and the joint venture of Ayala Corp. and Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc.

"We are optimistic that the MCIA Project will generate the same level of interest from major local and international companies as what we saw from the AFCS (Automatic Fare Collection System) Project.  We made sure that this project will also be attractive to investors in order to foster competitive and open bidding," said the DOTC.

The project's objective is to efficiently handle the increasing air traffic demand, ensure convenience of expected eight million passengers, and promote aircraft operational efficiency through the construction of new passenger terminal, installation of necessary equipment and renovation and expansion of the existing terminal including maintenance and management.

The 20-year concession contract is expected to be awarded by project leader DOTC before the end of the year. (Virgil Lopez/SDR/Sunnex)

Sunstar

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Philippine Research Institute Bred RICE with salt gland for Coastal areas; India and Bangladesh could benefits

International Rice Research Institute - Philippines

Salt-tolerant Rice Bred at Philippine Institute  

Scientists have successfully bred a rice variety that is salt-tolerant, which could enable farmers to reclaim coastal areas rendered useless by sea water, a Philippine-based institute said Tuesday.

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) near Manila said its researchers are in the process of perfecting the variety of rice that would be the most salt-tolerant ever developed before field testing it widely.

"They hope to have the new variety available to farmers to grow within four to five years," the institute said in a statement.

IRRI's media office said the new variety would offer twice the salt-tolerance as previous attempts to breed such a variety.

India and Bangladesh could potentially be the biggest beneficiaries, the IRRI said, remarking that about 20 million hectares (49 million acres) of rice farms worldwide have been affected by salinity.

The new variety was bred by crossing an exotic wild rice species found in brackish water with one cultivated at the institute.

The result is a "new rice line that can expel salt it takes from the soil into the air through salt glands it has on its leaves", the statement said.

"This will make saline stricken rice farms in coastal areas usable to farmers," said lead scientist Kshirod Jena.

"These farmlands are usually abandoned by coastal farmers because the encroaching seawater has rendered the soil useless."

Incidents such as the 2011 tsunami in Japan which flooded thousands of hectares of rice farms with sea water have spurred the development around the world of new varieties of rice that can grow in such areas.

Rice is considered one of three major domesticated crops that feed the world, along with wheat and corn, and scientists have been continuously looking to develop new varieties to increase production.

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Philippine Coast Guard discovered Butchered pangolins on Chinese poacher boat

This undated handout photo received on April 10, 2013 and released by the Philippine coast Guard (PCG) shows coast guard personnel inspecting the Chinese fishing vessel which ran aground off Tubbataha reef in Palawan island, western Philippines. A Chinese fishing boat has run aground on a World Heritage-listed coral reef in the Philippines, roughly 1,600 kilometres (1,000 miles) from China's nearest major landmass, authorities said April 9. AFP PHOTO/PCG

The Philippine coast guard said Monday it had found hundreds of frozen scaly anteaters, or pangolins, in the cargo hold of a Chinese boat that ran aground in a protected marine sanctuary last week.

Wildlife officials have been informed of the surprising discovery, which could lead to more charges for the 12 Chinese men arrested on charges including poaching after their boat was stranded in Tubbataha Reef last week.

"We found 400 boxes containing anteaters aboard the vessel, and we are now determining where these came from," coast guard spokesman Lieutenant Commander Armand Balilo told AFP.

He could not say whether the pangolins were frozen alive, or had already been butchered as meat.

A protected species, pangolins are widely hunted in parts of Asia for their meat, skin and scales. In China, they are known as a delicacy and are purported to have medicinal qualities.

According to the International Union of Conservation of Nature, all eight species of the insect-eating mammals are protected by international laws around the world.

Two – the Malaysian and Chinese pangolins – are in its "red list" of endangered species.

Pangolins are also found roaming in the wild in the western Philippine island of Palawan, the nearest land area to Tubbataha Reef where the Chinese boat had been marooned.

Balilo said the vessel remained stuck in Tubbataha, while the coast guard awaited arrival of a salvage ship to tow it away.

Prosecutors charged the 12 Chinese fishermen last week with illegal poaching and with corruption for attempting to bribe Filipinos officials, and if convicted they could face long jail terms.

It was not immediately clear however what additional charges, if any, are to be filed against them with the discovery of the pangolins, Balilo said.

The grounding of the 48-metre (157-foot) boat came amid deep tensions between the Philippines and China over competing territorial claims to the neighboring West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

China claims virtually all of the South China Sea on historical grounds, including waters close to the shores of its neighbors.

The Philippines, as well as Vietnam, have accused China of bullying other claimants as it aggressively stakes out its claims.

INQUIRER Global Nation

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BBC: "Apocalypse Now" Vietnam Village is faked: It was in Baler Philippines

Released in 1979, starring Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando and Robert Duvall (pictured), Francis Ford Coppola's Vietnam war film follows Captain Willard (Sheen) deep into the Vietnamese jungle in search of the renegade Colonel Kurtz (Brando). Now acclaimed as a classic, the film's production was famously beset by a number of disasters, including a tropical storm which destroyed the original set. "We had access to too much money, too much equipment, and little by little we went insane," reflected Coppola in Hearts of Darkness, the acclaimed documentary about the film.

How Apocalypse Now inspired Filipino surfers

When a scene from Apocalypse Now was shot on an obscure beach in the Philippines in the late 70s, little did the film-makers know they were giving birth to the country's surfing culture

"Charlie don't surf," says the reckless and irrepressible Colonel Kilgore, in one of the most memorable lines of the Vietnam War film Apocalypse Now.

Charlie is the American soldiers' derogatory nickname for their enemy, the Vietcong, and the surf-mad colonel is trying to persuade his troops to ride the waves, despite the bombs falling all around them.

Apocalypse Now, released in 1979, depicts the madness and mayhem of conflict, and is widely regarded as one of the most powerful war films ever made.

But it also has another legacy - something that the director, Francis Ford Coppola, could not possibly have intended.

Apocalypse Now was not actually filmed in Vietnam, but in the little fishing town of Baler in the northern Philippines.

As the cameras rolled, local Filipinos like Edwin Nomoro watched from the sidelines.

Nomoro was 10 at the time, and he came down to the beach every day to see it transformed into a battle scene, complete with an entirely fake Vietnamese village and helicopters swooping overhead.

But what excited him most was the sight of the actors surfing - something he'd never seen before.

Watch some video of "Apocalypse Now" movie here..

"When the filming finished, some of the crew left their surfboards behind, and my friend and I picked up the boards and taught ourselves how to surf," he says. "We've been surfing ever since."

At first, Nomoro and his friends found it difficult because there was no-one around to teach them.

Edwin Nomoro saw the film being made: "We've been surfing ever since"

"But we studied it, and learned, and now - no-one can explain what it feels like. Only a surfer knows the feeling," he says, smiling.

Once they got the hang of it, the boys started teaching others, and as word spread, tourists began coming to the little town to learn to ride the waves at Charlie's Point, as it became known.

Nomoro was able to turn his passion into a way of making a living, and more than 30 years on, he still earns money from the industry he helped to create.

"I have several rooms to rent. I also have some surfboards for hire," he says. "It's really improved my life. It helps me feed my family."

Baler is now very different from the sleepy fishing town where Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall and Marlon Brando stayed decades ago.

Several big hotels line the seafront, and more are being constructed. According to the local tourism office, at least 50,000 people came here in 2012.

Most visitors are Filipinos - Manila residents who just want a weekend of surfing - but an increasing number are foreigners.

One of the earliest arrivals was Donny Cope, who turned up in Baler in 1997 with "a surfboard, a backpack and a sense of adventure".

He has stayed at the beach on and off ever since, and now runs a small guesthouse.

"Last year we had surfers from the Czech Republic, Switzerland and a bunch from France," he says.

Baler's success as a surfing centre has rippled out to other parts of the Philippines, such as Surigao, La Union and Pagudpud.

"Baler is the birthplace of Philippine surfing," says Mac Ritual, a local tour guide.

"Other places saw a lot of good things here in Baler, and they also wanted to be popular because of surfing."

Ritual often takes his tour groups to see the main sites featured in Apocalypse Now.

The most famous is a headland where a major attack on the Vietcong was staged. It was nicknamed Charlie's Point in the film, and now even local Filipinos use this name.

Going there now, it's quite difficult to recognise anything from the film.

The fake Vietnamese village was blown up at the time, and the trees which were burnt down as part of a simulated napalm attack have all regrown.

But there's no chance of the beach nearby going back to the way it once was.

All the way along it, people are surfing - beginners screaming excitedly as the waves crash over them, and seasoned professionals perfecting their technique on the breakers.

This town has come a long way since the days of Apocalypse Now.

Perhaps the best way to sum up its changing fortunes is a little shop on the seafront.

Its name? Charlie Does.

BBC news

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Navy Admits "Cannot Guard Philippine Maritime Domain" Chinese poachers arrived 'undetected'

A Chinese fishing vessel that ran aground on Monday in Tubbataha Reef, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is pictured in Palawan Province, west of Manila April 10, 2013 in this picture provided by Tubbataha Management Office. REUTERS/ Tubbataha Management Office Handout (PHILIPPINES - Tags: ENVIRONMENT) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS

Dismal resources hound PH's ability to guard territorial waters

Chinese poachers arrived 'undetected'.

Lack of resources takes its toll on Philippine maritime protection, officials admitted, after a Chinese vessel got stuck on Tubbataha Reef late Monday.

Both the rangers of the Tubbataha Management Office (TMO) and maritime law enforcement agencies were unable to detect the Chinese vessel before it ran aground the protected marine park.

The TMO radar was turned off when the fishing vessel hit Tubbataha barely a mile away from the rangers' station, its head Angelique Songco said.

"We switch on our radar every three hours... Sometimes it's between those three hours that our rangers are blind," state-run Philippine News Agency quoted Songco as saying.

"We do not have the resources to keep the radar equipment on 24/7," Songco said further.

The Philippine Navy for its, part admitted that it "cannot guard every nook and cranny of our maritime domain."

Ships do not stay on guard in one area all the time, said Col. Edgard Arevalo, Navy spokesman for West Philippine Sea issues.

"Our borders are porous, and our coastline vast," he said, adding that "we have only a number of ships and aircraft to patrol our territorial waters."

Reuters/Reuters - A Chinese fishing vessel that ran aground in Tubbataha Reef, a UNESCO World Heritage site, on Monday is pictured in Palawan Province, west of Manila April 10, 2013 in this picture provided by Naval Forces West. REUTERS/ Naval Forces West Handout (PHILIPPINES - Tags: ENVIRONMENT POLITICS) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS

The latest grounding on Tubbataha Reef comes barely two weeks after the wreckage of a U.S. warship that hit the protected marine park had been removed.

The Philippines is asking the U.S. to pay P58 million ($1.4 million) in compensation for at least 2,345 square meters of the reef damaged by its minesweeper USS Guardian.

The incident also happened while the Philippines and China are embroiled in a dispute over territories in the West Philippine Sea.

The unnamed 48-meter Chinese vessel is still stuck in Tubbataha as of press time, but the 12 suspected poachers aboard it have been escorted to Puerto Princesa where they will face charges.

The fishing boat is the seventh Chinese fishing vessel caught inside the Tubbataha Reef since 2002, the TMO said in its website.

No marine life was found in the vessel, but Songco had said the entry of foreign fishing vessels is "prima facie evidence they are engaged in fishing".

The Tubbataha Reef is no-take area in the middle of the Sulu Sea, which has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In addition to poaching, unauthorized entry, and damage to the reefs, corruption of public officials will also be filed against the Chinese nationals, TMO said.

This, as it noted how rangers reported that the foreign fishermen attempted to bribe them with $2,400.

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After US Warship, Chinese fishing boat runs aground in Tubbataha Reef, Sulu, Philippines

A US Navy ship also ran aground on Tubbataha in January. It was stuck for more than 10 weeks. Photo: AFP

A Chinese fishing boat has run aground on a World Heritage-listed coral reef in the Philippines, roughly 1,600 kilometers from China's nearest major landmass, authorities said on Tuesday.

The vessel, with 12 crew members, was found stranded in the shallows of Tubbataha Reef in the Sulu Sea just before midnight on Monday, coast guard spokesman Lieutenant Commander Arman Balilo said.

"This is a small fishing boat, but we are wondering how they strayed into Tubbataha. Apart from illegal entry, we are investigating them for possible poaching as well," Balilo said.

Balilo said the boat was to be pulled off the reef on Tuesday and then towed to the nearby island province of Palawan, where the fishermen would be detained and questioned by authorities.

Balilo said Chinese fishermen frequently strayed into Philippine waters, but this was the first time in recent years that they had been detected as far south as Tubbataha.

The grounding of the vessel comes as the Philippines and China are locked in a bitter dispute over competing territorial claims to the South China Sea.

China claims nearly all of the sea, even waters approaching the coasts of the Philippines, Vietnam and other countries in Southeast Asia.

The Philippines accused China of occupying a shoal, which is home to a rich fishing ground, near its main island of Luzon last year. The Philippines has asked a United Nations panel to rule that China's claims are invalid.

However Tubbataha reef is in the Sulu Sea, which is further southeast and not claimed by China. The Sulu and South China seas are separated by Palawan, one of the Philippines' biggest islands.

Hainan Island, China's nearest major landmass.

Balilo said he did not want to speculate how the Chinese fishermen reached Tubbataha.

But one navy official said the fishermen likely sailed through the South China Sea and then a narrow strait at the southern tip of Palawan.

Tubbataha is famous among divers around the world for its walls of coral and diverse marine life that many say rival that of Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Sailing in the Tubbataha Park is illegal without a permit.

However a US Navy minesweeper also ran aground on Tubbataha in January, and salvage crews had to break it down in pieces in a delicate operation that only ended on March 29.

Philippines authorities estimate that the USS Guardian damaged at least 2,345 square meters of the reef and are seeking 58 million pesos (US$1.4 million) in compensation.

SCMP

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Philippine Gov't DOST developing Filipino 'road train' - September 2013

loQal - The Department of Science and Technology (DoST) announced it will develop a monorail train system that will run on electricity. A 500-meter track will be built at the UP Diliman campus to test this monorail system. (Computer-generated design courtesy of DoST)

Philippines --- A "Road Train" that can transport more commuters than the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) is being developed by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), with a prototype expected in September, 2013.

The DOST conceived of the Road Train as it continued to test the Automated Guideway System (AGT) on an elevated rail line at the campus of the University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman, Quezon City.

Another train in an elevated track is also being pushed by the DOST, starting in front of the DOST head office all the way to Laguna.

Without giving much details, DOST Secretary Mario Montejo revealed the plans for the Road Train at the opening day on Friday of the "Innovation Congress" or ICON at Bonifacio Global City.

DOST and Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors (AVID), headed by president Fe Agudo, co-organized ICON until April 7.

Montejo said it is the task of the DOST to leverage science and technology (S&T) to create new and better products, processes, services, and systems" to improve the lives of Filipinos.

Montejo said the planned Road Train will have a dedicated track, but can also travel using vehicles' ordinary wheels in Metro Manila roads.

It will have an average speed of 30 kilometers per hour, and trains coming after each other at every 1.5 minutes, he said.

"There will be four couches in every Road Train, each couch capable of having 120 passengers for a total of 480 people," said Montejo.

"While MRT accommodates about 500,000 passengers a day, the Road Train will have some 652,800 commuters and run 17 hours a day," he said.

Filipinos are behind the making of the Road Train, he added.

He said innovation without action is empty and not capable of addressing the countless challenges that Filipinos face.

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