Over the weekend, President Marcos directed the Department of Transportation (DoTr) to look into renegotiating three aborted loan agreements with China for key rail projects. The DoTr had gone so far as to award contracts for the PNR project to a consortium of China Railway Group Ltd., China Railway No. 3 Engineering Group Co. Ltd., and China Railway Engineering Consulting Group Co. Ltd., but the start of the project remains stalled. President Marcos' choice, which is essentially to go back to square one and negotiate new funding arrangements, was likewise appropriate. In terms of rail development, in fact, China might be at a disadvantage.

Source: Manila Times July 20, 2022 04:14 UTC