The social costs of the PNR South Long Haul infrastructure project in the Philippines

Since the early 2000s, the Philippines has been experiencing exponential growth in Gross Domestic Product. The growth has helped produce more jobs for the country, increase the labor force, as well as attract foreign investments through Official Development Assistance (ODA) funding.

As the Philippine economy grew, more Filipinos in the rural areas started looking for access to the National Capital Region (NCR) in order to work. The lack of proper infrastructure has always been an issue of the country since the 1990s, given that the main mode of transport is through cars and an outdated railway system that stretched out to about 1200 kilometers from northern and southern rural areas to the main city. During this period, the growth of infrastructure was not meeting the growth of GDP and the demand for economic connectivity that the country was experiencing.

In 2016, the new presidential administration leveraged this demand as one of its promises, which was to accelerate the growth of infrastructure projects, including the rail sector. Part of his political game was to rely on the support of the Chinese government for funding these sorts of projects. In 2018, it was announced that the 100-year-old rail system would be revamped and extended further south in order to enhance the connectivity of the citizens to-and-for the provinces.

Though the press release glorified the project to be a legacy of the current presidential administration, underneath the surface laid multiple contradictions that lead to the delay of the implementation. The political agenda, economical requirement, and social implications played a role in the issue, with all sides presenting their own conflicting agendas.

In the perspective of the society, new rail lining is to cross certain parcels in which current dwellers were located. All infrastructure projects in the country usually undergo a Right-Of-Way issue, however, given its scale (565km) this project stands out among all the other rail infrastructure projects that stretch to about 148 km. Having this said, the project crosses about 50 + municipalities across the Luzon region, affecting the home dwellers along the proposed alignment.

Instead of benefiting the countrymen and affected communities, the implementation of the project created multiple controversies as the agenda of each actor clashed with the other.

Resettlement Action Plan (Complexity 1)

Part of addressing the social impact aspect of the project, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) drafts a Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) which aims to address the necessity of compensation to the affected communities. In order for the landowners to be eligible for the compensation package, they are required to present certified proof of land title/ownership of their affected property.

As for the amount/value of the compensation package, this would be dependent on the land value of the affected properties, which falls under the jurisdiction of the municipality under which the properties fall. In the RAP it is stated that settlers are able to choose the offered socialized housing provided by the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) or receive an amount from the PAG-IBIG Fund.

Contradictions in this complexity issue;

1. Land titles: not all landowners have the appropriate documents that the government is requiring.
2. Land valuation: the government is providing compensation based on the market value of the affected land area. This is dictated by the respective municipality under which the properties fall.

Housing Issue (Complexity 2)

The Philippines has a housing backlog of about 5 million housing units. The demand for proper socialized and economic housing has been growing throughout the years, due to the lack of proper implementation and subsidization from the DHSUD. This, on its own, is a wicked problem that is affected by the current issue and has the potential to be added on to by the displacement of the affected communities.

Contradictions in this complexity issue;

1. There is no specific housing program mentioned by the DHSUD that is set for the displaced families affected by the PNR South Long Haul Project. As for the compensation amount, does not take into account the inconvenience of moving nor is based on a substantial value of the land property.

Chinese Involvement (Complexity 3)

Given the history of conflict over the West Philippine Sea, the relationship with the Chinese government has always been unstable. The foreign government has been looking for opportunities to strengthen its influence on the country, and this has been allowed by the current Presidential administration.

Contradictions in this complexity issue:

1. The current administration supports and favors the procurement of Chinese Engineering Companies despite the history of disputes between the two countries.

Actors (Complexity 4)

In our research, we have been able to identify four (4) sets of actors. The first set of actors includes the public sectors, which pertain to the government institutions; the Department of Transportation, the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development, PAG-IBIG, and the Office of the President. The next set of actors in the financial institution, pertaining to the ODA fund from the Chinese government. The third set of actors in the private sector, comprising of Chinese engineering companies, local sub-contractors, and non-government organizations. The last set of actors would be the people and this pertains to the affected communities that would be displaced.

With the acceptance of foreign investment, including China, the public sector began pushing for the development of infrastructure projects through the "Build Build Build" (BBB) program. The program aimed to close the void brought by the growing economy and the lack of infrastructure and connectivity to support such growth. Hence the agenda of the public sector was for the completion/implementation of such projects in order to, not just provide a solution to the issue, but be seen as a legacy of the current administration.

As an investor, the financial institution aims for a positive return of investment on the country's that they invested in, as well as increase the presence and influence of China on the country. As China expands its claim over the West Philippine Sea, the current government administration has allowed the presence and influence of the Chinese government and Chinese businesses to strengthen in the country, future benefiting their economy with the returns that the investment aims to bring.

The first two sub-actors under the private sector pertaining to the Chinese Engineering Companies, local Sub-contractors, and also the Non-Government Organizations (NGOs). The Chinese Government also has a stake in the companies that are involved in infrastructure projects in countries that they are invested in. From a business perspective, the companies, including the local sub-contractors that support the Chinese Engineering Companies, the goal is to win contracts and create work for the growth of their business.

As for the NGOs, these have a different agenda compared to the first two sub-actors. For this sub-group of actors, the NGOs are mainly focused on helping the affected communities.

The people, also known as the affected communities, are to be displaced once the implementation of the project commences. Hence their agenda is to maintain stability and security in their livelihood. This includes having suitable shelter as well as sufficient funds to accommodate their fixed costs. From an economic perspective, these people are also looking for proper access to the job market. This access comes in the form of proper transportation to and from the city and back to their respective homes.

Contradiction in this complexity issue:

1. Some sets of actors share very similar agendas, which create a minority for the contradicting agenda.

Complex Attributes

The building of new infrastructure is an example of adaptation in terms of coping with the economic growth of the country. The implementation of new infrastructure could be considered as the city's response to the already congested city. The growth called for an alternative mode of transportation, aside from cars and buses.

The problem also showcases a complexity in non-linearity through the social, economic, and political changes, for as the GDP of the country grows, so does the social behavior change for people are striving to keep up with the change of pace. In the political aspect, this is usually seen in the change of administration and agenda, with the government is in favor of protecting the interest of the Chinese government. The underlying issue of housing in the country can further be aggravated. These issues came to be due to poor enforcement/due diligence, corruption and lack of transparency, heavy-state backing, and weak oversight.

All of these result in an emergent aspect of complexity, as they all contribute to the creation of the problem. One thing that emerged from the implementation of infrastructure projects has been the race for the private sector to secure contracts and create more jobs. However, the controversies brought by the political agenda results in additional competition in the job market. Due to this, the emergence of conflict between the Filipino workers and the incoming foreign workers. One can say that this emergence was also non-deterministic, for all possible aspects of the affected population were not fully taken into account.

As explained in the portion regarding the different actor's agendas, it is quite clear that there are contradictions between value and agendas. The population value a growing job market, as well as an enhanced livelihood that is promised by the project, however, the Resettlement Action Plan does not address all the concerns that an affected community would need in order to adapt to the change.

Given all these attributes brought by the issue, the social costs have resulted to the delay of the project, and can also, unpredictably, exaggerate other underlying issues in housing, poverty, and social unrest.

Resilience and Sustainability

The clear benefit of the project is the alternative mode of transportation and accessibility to the main capital city brought by the additional rail connection. The reduction of the carbon footprint brought by cars could be considered an indirect result that contributes to the sustainable development of the city. It could be considered a green infrastructure project as it enables the reduction of cars and buses by improving the condition and service quality of the existing rail infrastructure. This also becomes an example of resilience, as it is an example of adaptation to the exponential growth of the Philippine economy in the past few years.

However, if not planned and enforced properly, the project implementation could impose additional risks to those affected by the change. This imposes a threat to the social resiliency of the people who are displaced from their homes without proper compensation and could contribute to the housing issue and increase poverty. The affected community would then have to find their own means to live and adjust to the change in lifestyle, as they get evicted from their homes. That would show an aspect of resilience at the people level, however, would impose a threat to healthy living conditions as not all people are able to adjust to the change smoothly.

Persistence

To understand how the issue persists, we can look at the underlying issues that were missed during the planning of the project. In terms of housing, the current lack of supply of sufficient units has not been properly addressed. In the RAP, it was mentioned that those living in the affected communities would be compensated through the purchasing of their land or by receiving an alternative place to live. However, this is easier said than done, since the RAP does not explicitly mention where and how they will provide these alternative options for compensation. This leads to the second reason as to why this issue persists, and that is that when preparing the RAP document, there was no knowledge co-production during the participator process. This adds to the uncertainty of thousands of inhabitants.

The problem also continues to persist as the government is not maximizing this opportunity to create more jobs in the country. Though the project will potentially increase the GDP and economic growth of the country, the benefits are shared with foreign companies and workers taking up the jobs that locals can possibly secure.

The fourth reason would be the inconsistency in the change of government, with different political agendas and strategies. There is a social discontent over national policies, which creates more discontinuation and little or no collaboration between the various stakeholders.

Reflection

The social cost and impact almost resemble a poverty trap. In this context, the trap is the ultimatum given by the government in tackling the Right-Of-Way issue. This is seen in terms of compensation discussed in the RAP, drafted and presented by the public sector. If someone from the affected community declines to receive the said compensation, then they may present their concern in court, and may even gamble with the possibility of receiving an even lower value for their property. In the end, the question is on if the amount that a household is to receive would be sufficient in moving to and setting in another location.

In green infrastructure, in order for a project to be considered green, it should benefit not just the environmental aspect but also the impact on social sustainability. The fact that the public was not properly involved in the resettlement action plan (RAP) shows a lack of or no participation from the affected communities. Green infrastructure needs participation and knowledge co-production from the public.

The increase of connectivity and accessibility would bring certain implications such as improvement of the job market and the gross domestic product of the economy. However, the question that we are to conclude with is if the economic gain brought by the infrastructure is worth the social cost that comes with its implementation.

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