Railway system to enhance Panay’s tourism industry
BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL

KALIBO, Aklan – Provincial Planning and Development officer Engr. Roger Esto said the revival of the Panay railway system would develop the tourism industry and further boost Panay Island’s economy.
Aklan Governor Carlito Marquez as chairman of the Provincial Development Council has endorsed the rehabilitation and reconstruction work of the Panay railway system last year. The revival of the Philippine National Railway project was also endorsed by the Regional Development Council (RDC) Region 6.
“The coastal areas and the beach lines are the proposed new routes of the railway system that will support the region’s tourism industry. The consultants of the project are from the Austrian government considering the railway system is the most convenient and safe means of transportation in Europe,” Esto said.
Esto said the proposed railway system in Panay under the built-operate-rehabilitate-transfer plan will link Iloilo, Roxas City in Capiz, Kalibo and Caticlan in the province of Aklan.
Phase I would take the fast-moving train from Iloilo to Roxas City and up to Kalibo for the Phase II project that would encompasses the Kalibo Bakhawan Park, the Calangcang Sports Complex in Makato, tourism sites in Jawili of Tangalan, Ibajay, Nabas and in Caticlan, Malay, Aklan.
“Department of Transportation and Communication (DoTC) being the lead agency is now conducting the price listing of the lands affected by the railway project from Kalibo Bakhawan area going to Makato. They are also in the process of sourcing out the funds for the payment of the right of way,” Esto said.
As this developed, Governor Marquez said the project hopes to give the Boracay-bound tourists from Iloilo a faster and alternative transportation.
“We don’t have domestic flights from Iloilo to Caticlan, which is why, the investor will put up a railway system in Panay Island. The proposed project will pass Roxas City, then Kalibo and eventually Caticlan and which may extend to Antique. In the future, tourism is still the name of the game for economic development for the whole region,” the governor added.