While the word “Dutertenomics “ may conjure images of our beloved president cooking with Del Monte products while swearing profusely, it thankfully runs a lot deeper than that. The Department of Transportation recently released their plans in the vein of Dutertenomics, and, while glaringly costly, they provide us with a lot of great things to look forward to, assuming they are all completed and completed well.

More airports than ever

With the Puerto Princesa airport opening in May and more airports being constructed as we speak, the drive to make tourism easier for everyone intent on going to the Philippines (especially those not really going to Manila) has never been better. Bohol, Mactan, and Bicol are all due for airport overhauls as well within the next couple of years. They’re even improving the night-landing capabilities of existing airports in this endeavor!, as well as overhauling air traffic management!

Room For Improvement: Fix our reputation in the international community (without merely silencing the critics but addressing their criticisms head-on instead), and we’re halfway there in tourism. Making maps and other information ready-to-hand the way other countries do also goes a long way in that.

 PNR North and South

Expected to complete in 2021, these railways make traveling from Manila to Clark or Manila to Bicol a breeze, which makes it possible to increase industry and livable space in the Clark area, because the commute from end to end becomes possible.

If you must scoff, consider this: a train from end to end on either line would get faster from end to end than a bus ride from end to end for EDSA, yet people do the latter to get to work. Chew on that for a minute.

Room For Improvement: Develop the immediate area around the non-manila terminal stations, but that normally comes with the territory.

The Mindanao Railway

Who says that development should be considered only for Luzon? This 105-KM project, set for completion in 2022, should be a huge boon towards the continued development of Mindanao and its self-sufficiency.

Room For Improvement: If they (you know who we mean when we say “they”) never charge “revolutionary tax” here, we may have a winner on our hands.

The Mega-Manila Subway

Oh, wow. A subway from QC to Taguig? The Fort just got more accessible than ever! Who wouldn’t want this?

Room For Improvement: It would help if they could explain how they intend to make a subway in Quezon City, land of the floods Marikina can’t handle anymore.

 South West Integrated Transport System

Streamlining ticketing for provincial buses is a godsend, especially in a hub like Paranaque. April 2018 couldn’t come any sooner. Bring it on!

Room For Improvement: They need to make sure that the signage in this hub is simple and intuitive that tourists can also make good use of it.

EDSA Central Corridor BRT

This. This project needs to happen, because the buses need to be kept in their own lane, and this new plan enforces that to a tee, and opens up pedestrian and biking lanes along EDSA, which is the kind of progress we need.

Room For Improvement: Obviously, the improvement here comes with making sure MMDA personnel are up for the challenge of enforcing this new world order, and that the construction along EDSA would not exacerbate the current traffic situation – too much.

The triple-line Common Station

Expected to be completed in 2019, a common station is just what the doctor ordered in streamlining our rail systems. It worked very well for Hong Kong, considering how much easier it is to get around there by using their trains, so with any luck, we should have that working in our favor, too.

Room For Improvement: A tangent, since we’ve been talking trains most of this list, but maybe we could educate people about the concept of “disabilities,” because it seems people don’t understand that not all disabilities are visible and physical in nature, and they just roll their eyes at people who genuinely are differently-abled but not necessarily as typical-looking as someone, say, on a crutch. Tangent? Yes. Important? Of course.

MRT-LRT Extensions

Let’s face it: with these extensions come more train cars and less crowding that could make you trade faces with the people in your train. It gives us a genuine alternative to taking cars if we could make the MRT-LRT system work, which it currently doesn’t.

Room For Improvement: Make the MRT-LRT system frigging work as it is, because we are sick of the past three administrations blaming each other for why it has been a bust so far.

What do you think of these proposed projects? Share with us your thoughts below!