Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028 - PDF

Excerpt from NEDA’s Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028 Vision: Anchored on the long-term vision, the government will steer the nation toward a future where movement of people and goods is safely and efficiently facilitated by adequate and accessible transportation. Mobility of majority of...

Excerpt from NEDA’s Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028 Vision: Anchored on the long-term vision, the government will steer the nation toward a future where movement of people and goods is safely and efficiently facilitated by adequate and accessible transportation. Mobility of majority of Filipinos is hampered by inadequate transportation facilities. 1. Public Transport.There is a shortage in public transport supply. This is evidenced by long queues of commuters and passengers who spend long hours waiting for their rides, and, when they get one, stand inside buses or trains overcrowded with other commuters. 2. Railways. The Philippine rail system’s capacity is inadequate to meet the ridership post-pandemic. 3. Transport facilities deemed inaccessible and unsafe, especially for vulnerable groups. The physical design of the rail infrastructure falls below the standards set in the 1982 Accessibility Law, and thus makes them difficult to access and use by pregnant women, parents with very young children, older people, and persons with disabilities (PWD). Stations with non- functional elevators and escalators, defective restrooms, missing signages, poor security measures such as lack of security cameras, overcrowding, and insufficient lighting in passenger set down further aggravate the risks of accidents, crime, and violence faced by commuters, especially females. Gender-based violence, sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment and discrimination are common and possibly under-reported in public spaces including the transport sector. 4. Public Transport. Shortage of road-based public transportation persists in many urban areas. Since 2003, public transport services franchising has been under a moratorium. This has not helped reduce the shortage of public transport in many cities. Besides being obsolete, most of the public transport fleet in 2022 also do not comply with modern design and emission standards. Meanwhile, the rollout of the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program launched in 2017 has progressed slowly since many vehicle owners found the financial terms of the program unattractive and the funding support from the government in the form of subsidy for vehicle procurement was limited. 5. Use of active transportation is still not popular. The Department of Health (DOH) has issued guidelines promoting the safe use of active transport, while the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has issued an order prescribing the standards on the design of bicycle facilities along national roads. Excerpt from NEDA’s Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028 (continued) Vision: Anchored on the long-term vision, the government will steer the nation toward a future where movement of people and goods is safely and efficiently facilitated by adequate and accessible transportation. Mobility of majority of Filipinos is hampered by inadequate transportation facilities. 6. Roadways fatalities are increasing in the Philippines. Road traffic accidents exact a heavy toll. Approximately 12,000 Filipinos die on the road each year, while the resulting injuries cost about 2.6 percent of the country’s GDP in 2018.9 The government does not have a yearly budget allocation for road safety. 7. Waterways. Progress has been made in maritime transportation, but issues on infrastructure quality remain. Improvements were pursued with the opening of the Matnog, Sorsogon to Bogo City, Cebu roll-on/roll-off (RORO) route, and the issuance of the revised rules in the grant of missionary route status for RORO passenger ships, and the development of the Maritime Route Rationalization and Information System.10 Nonetheless, only a limited number of RORO vessels can be accommodated under the size of the country’s RORO ports in 2022. RORO vessels that serve medium-sized ports are smaller compared to RORO ships that use the Port of Manila. The fleet of inter-island ferries is also aging, posing safety risks to commuters. 8. Little progress has been made to improve airport infrastructure. The country has a total of 90 airports in operation— comprising 11 international, 41 domestic, 38 community—and 3 airports not in operation in 2022. However, not all the country’s international airports and principal Class 1 and principal Class 2 airports comply with modern safety design thresholds, particularly the minimum runway strip threshold width and night landing capabilities. Proposed improvements to major gateways in the country were put on hold and are being re-assessed to consider new projections in aviation demand. Travel limitations, lockdowns, and hampered business operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic caused the decline in passenger traffic by 33.47 percent from 2020 to 2021. Over the same period, air traffic movement likewise decreased by 54.7 percent. Excerpt from NEDA’s Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028 (continued) Vision: Anchored on the long-term vision, the government will steer the nation toward a future where movement of people and goods is safely and efficiently facilitated by adequate and accessible transportation. Mobility of majority of Filipinos is hampered by inadequate transportation facilities. 9. Roadways. Civil works and utilities installation along roads are not coordinated. Road widening activities are not in sync with the relocation of electrical and communication poles, as well as pipe laying and other waterworks, causing traffic jams, road accidents, and other roadside friction. Prevalence of overhead electrical and telecommunications cables and poles along major thoroughfares poses hazards to road users. Meanwhile, the lack of coordination between road works and waterworks results in prolonged or repeated closure of roads and higher construction cost. 10. Railway. There are no operational cargo and/or freight rail services in the country. The movement of goods over land is limited to road-based transportation options; rail-based transportation options are non-existent. As such, long-, medium-, and short-distance shipping by land is done by trucks, which adds to road traffic congestion and to logistics cost. The roads leading to ports and airports often experience congestion and deteriorate faster due to heavy truck loads. 11. Infrastructure. Port and ancillary facilities are insufficient and underdeveloped. As of December 2021, about 336.56 million metric tons (MMT) of cargo was transported through the country’s port system compared to 133.74 MMT through airports. Meanwhile, 99.98 percent of the total domestic trade in 2021 was transported by sea, and the rest (0.02%) via air. Despite the maritime sector’s critical role in the transport of goods, most of the country’s ports are operated inefficiently due to their inadequate equipment and ancillary facilities. Such inefficiency is evident in the long queues of cargo trucks at port areas. Cargo trucks sometimes wait for days before they are able to board a RORO vessel. Such delays result in poor reliability in the delivery cargoes and spoilage of perishable goods, further straining the food supply chain, among others. Government- operated ports, especially those of local government units (LGUs), have insufficient cargo-handling equipment. Existing LGU- operated ports have limited financial resources to procure the necessary equipment and support infrastructure such as cold chain facilities, leading to increased logistics costs. Excerpt from NEDA’s Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028 (continued) Vision: Anchored on the long-term vision, the government will steer the nation toward a future where movement of people and goods is safely and efficiently facilitated by adequate and accessible transportation. Mobility of majority of Filipinos is hampered by inadequate transportation facilities. 12. Climate change is not systematically integrated in planning, design, operation, and maintenance. Climate change does not only adversely affect connectivity, but also places a strain on the country’s economy. The resulting economic losses could be massive and would require significant additional financing to rehabilitate the damaged infrastructures. Due to Typhoon Odette in 2021, 36 percent of seaports were rendered inoperational, creating logistics challenges and disruptions in supply chains, especially for isolated islands. In addition, some municipalities had limited access to communication services for six weeks, which further hampered disaster relief and recovery operations.