By Raymond Carl Dela Cruz | Philippine News Agency
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) on Wednesday highlighted several completed and ongoing major transportation projects that will contribute to the government’s efforts toward environmental sustainability.
In a speech during the high-level 16th Regional Environmentally Sustainable Transport Forum in Asia (RESTFA), DOTr Undersecretary Timothy John Batan said these projects include rail projects such as the North-South Commuter Railway, Metro Manila Subway Project, Light Rail Transit Line 1 Cavite Extension Project, and Metro Rail Transit Line 7.
“The transport sector is seen to play a critical role in sustainable development and holds great potential to increase the region’s climate ambition further,” Batan said.
For the road sector, he said projects such as the Public Transport Modernization Program, EDSA Greenways Project, EDSA Busway, Cebu Bus Rapid Transit, Davao Public Transport Modernization Project, and Taguig City Integrated Terminal Exchange will “transform the road public transport landscape.”
He added various airport and seaport projects in the country are also developed, implemented, operated, and maintained under international social and environmental safeguards.
The Philippines is hosting the three-day 16th RESTFA that aims to promote sustainable transport in the region.
“The Philippines and the DOTr’s hosting of this forum attest to our steadfast commitment of championing sustainable urban mobility not only as a necessity but as a moral imperative,” Batan said.
He underscored the need for sustainability in the transportation sector to curb climate change by reducing carbon emissions.
“As a nation that is most susceptible to the effects of climate change, growing pollution, and loss of nature and biodiversity, the Philippine transport sector reaffirms its determination to cooperate for the implementation of transformational changes within our country,” he said.
With the theme “Sustainable Urban Mobility Solutions: Empowering Cities towards Low Carbon Pathways for Achieving Co-benefits & Economic Resilience in the SDGs Era,” the forum features plenary sessions on urban access, international partners’ initiatives towards the Aichi 2030 Declaration and the United Nations Decade of Sustainable Transport.
The forum is attended by high-level representatives from local and international governments, as well as executives in the private sector.