Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte has expressed optimism that Transportation Secretary Vivencio Dizon’s confirmation will finally lead to the implementation of long-delayed transport projects in the Bicol region.
Villafuerte said he is hopeful the modernization of Naga Airport and the Philippine National Railways-South Long Haul Railway project—also known as the “Bicol Express”—will soon begin after years of stagnation during the Aquino and Duterte administrations.
During his confirmation hearing, Dizon assured Villafuerte and other Commission on Appointments members that the Naga Airport upgrade would begin in September, and that the Department of Transportation would seek new international funding—possibly from the EU and France—for the railway project after talks with China collapsed in 2022.
Villafuerte said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had already directed the transport department to accelerate both projects, citing Dizon’s visit to Camarines Sur last May as the turning point for the airport development.
He also proposed that the “Bicol Express” be developed as a high-speed railway, similar to Japan’s bullet trains, to reduce travel time from Metro Manila to Bicol to as little as two hours.
