Third Draft, as updated. URL: https://www.facebook.com/notes/821187892031659/

T his writer has written about the need to create a "Research-and-Development (R&D) Center" that will push a proposed PH "railway renaissance." He has also proposed the extension of the railroad to the Matnog ferry port and the construction of a province-wide commuter-rail system anchored on a "Sorsogon Bay Area Rapid Transit" (SorBART), which will begin in the town of Donsol to the next town of Pilar and on to the Daraga (Albay) International Airport. Then it will connect all other towns of the province, including the Bacon-Sorsogon (Bac-Sor) City. The commuter-train network will connect the airport of Daraga (under construction), the Bulan and Bacon airports and the ferry ports of Bulan, Matnog and Pilar. The proposed transportation infrastructures will be all under the Public-Private Partnership guidelines and enacting laws. Target date for the formal launching of the railway-system project is July 1, 2019. Actual construction of the first kilometer of railroad track in Donsol (Sorsogon) is slated for May 1, 2020.

All the proposed rail engines, cars and train stations will be "Smart Trains" as components of a planned "Smart City" and/or "Smart Province" with components consisting of "Smart Transportation" and/or "Smart Security" and other computer-based transportation-and-telecommunications features or systems. The "Smart Train Stations" will be the new hub of trade, commerce and other service industries.

To back up all these proposed ventures -- mostly on public-and-private partnership (PPP), there is a need to set up in Sorsogon a College of Railway Engineering, which is now on the drawng board of a Sorsogon City-based educational institution.

Building an efficient rail system in the Island of Luzon can result into a viable closure of the seaports in the City of Manila (the South and North Harbors) and letting the ports of Batangas and Subic handle the incoming marine containers and just bringing them by rail to factories, just like what is being done in the United States. By letting the ocean-going containers be delivered on freight trains will mean the de-clogging of the streets of the National Capital Region and the roads leading to the industrial areas of the NCR, CALABARZON and adjacent provinces in Central Luzon.

Another port can even be built in Sorsogon Province, as it is the southern end of Luzon and where the Pacific Ocean meets the China Sea. The marine containers can then be loaded on railway freight cars and delivered to factories or distribution centers in the NCR, CALABARZON and other manufacturing sites. Aurora Province is also an alternative site for a deep-water port in the Pacific Ocean.

An efficient railroad system can haul also the thousands of metric tons of garbage from the NCR and other urban areas in Central Luzon and bring them to a biomass-fed power-generating plant in Quezon Province or the Bicol Region. This will do away with using hundreds of garbage trucks traveling roads in the NCR or The Imperial Manila (TIM).

A viable rail system with superb passenger lines and modern coaches can decongest the NCR and other urban center as 10 passenger coaches can probably carry more confortably, faster and cheaper than 40 buses (or more) that travel from terminals in Cubao, Pasay City or Alabang (Muntinglupa City) just to the Bicol-Region destinations. This will unclog the roads of the NCR and also South Road.

If the North Rail project can be pushed through successfully and brought to Pangasinan, La Union, the Ilocos Provinces and Cagayan Valley, then it will further decongest urban centers and the North Expressways. Buses will still be needed to ferry passengers and tourists from new train stations to towns and tourist destinations like Baguio City and/or to/from airports in the coverages areas of the North Rail.

Then refrigerated train cars can bring food stuffs from suppliers in the provinces at much-cheaper rates and convenience. The doubling handling of unloading them from trucks to cold-storage plants or warehouses and then transporting them again to markets or outlets can be minimized. Again this will cut down the number of freight trucks and/or delivery pick-ups from the streets of the NCR and other urban centers -- if the freight cars can be brought to distribution centers or big outlets like supermarkets.

I have been fascinated by the Taiwanese modest version of a modern railway system. It is my ideal model of a railroad system for some of the bigger islands of the Philippines that are just a little bit bigger -- or smaller -- than Taiwan. Here is a photograph of high-speed rail that may be a model of a “Railroad Renaissance” that my friends and I want to begin in Sorsogon in 2020. (Editor's Note: The proposed project has been moved to 2022 at the earliest.)

Please find the appropriate postings in several PH railways Facebook Groups about Lolo Bobby's proposals:

• Bobby M. Reyes (Con't.) We may set up ahead an Overseas-Filipino R&D Center in Southern Nevada as part of what I am proposing to the decision-&-policy makers of Las Vegas as the "Silicon Desert." I will provide details to this FB Group on a need-to-know basis. Eventually, we can send young Filipino architects, engineers, chemists, computer geeks, etc., to train with us in preparation for the opening of a Filipino R&D Center based in Sorsogon Province. (posted on March 20, 2014.) 
• Reynante Bulaon I myself would like to be a part of an R&D team that will handle our railway industry.  
•  Bobby M. Reyes @ Reynante Bulaon Yes, we will be happy & honored to have you join our R&D Center Team that will deal with our proposed innovations for the railway & other industries. Our co-chair for the R&D Center project is a retired Fil-Am engineer from Ford Motors. His co-chair is my Taiwanese-American friend, an inventor who holds several patents on aviation & computers. Pls send me a brief biodata via Facebook message. 
•   Bobby M. Reyes (Con't.) In fact, if only our homeland's policy-&-decision makers & the Filipino voters will just evaluate my written proposals, the railroad projects in Mindanao, Leyte-Samar & in Luzon may be able to solve within 12 years (2016 to 2028) the Muslim-&-NPA rebellions by addressing the socioeconomic problems. Here is what I wrote about my offered solutions for Mindanao: http://www.mabuhayradio.com/politics/illiteracy-fuels-the-ongoing-clash-of-civilizations-in-rp-especially-in-mindanao (This is a series of articles, the links of w/c readers will find at the end of every article.) The idea is to organize the Muslims, the Lumads & the Christians into three-pronged groups: A security force, an engineering brigade & medical corps. Building the railroad will not be enough, as we have to provide solutions to other needs: from livelihood, education, healthcare and other basic needs.
• Bobby M. Reyes (Con't.) Then as I plan to do in Sorsogon, reorganize the Provincial Sheriff into a local counterpart of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Dep't & demilitarize the province. We will convert the SWAT Teams into groups of Social Workers, Agriculturists & Teachers (SWAT din). We will maintain strictly & enforce our LOLO policy: as in "Law and Order, Less government & Opportunities equally to all." This is why people like to call me "LOLO Bobby." After all, I am a grandfather of seven.
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• Bobby M. Reyes @ Jp Kemp Incostirva Thanks for your comments. Yes, "nice words" but we have to translate them into feasibility studies & environmental-impact reports & secure a mandate from our people, esp. the voters. As I said, Overseas Filipinos & OFWs now exceed 12-million. They earn billions of U.S. dollars (w/ Fil-Am leading the pack w/ US$92-billion in income per year). But our gov't has not made any extraordinary efforts to woo them & make them true partners for honest-to-goodness socioeconomic development. 
•  Bobby M. Reyes (Con't.) Sabi ko nga, sa karamihan ng mga OFWs katulad ko, ang spelling namin ng Diaspora ay "Dayaspora" kasi palagi kaming dina-daya ng OWWA, DOLE, SSS & iba pang mga gov't agencies.    
•  Bobby M. Reyes Translation for our Foreign Members: As I said, many of the Overseas-Filipino Workers (OFWs) like me spell Diaspora as "Dayaspora" because the OWWA, DOLE, SSS & other gov't agencies keep on cheating us. (P.S. Daya is a Filipino word for "to cheat".) March 20 at 10:03pm · Like
• Bobby M. Reyes @ Vina T. Veroncruz, Graham John Corry, Reynante Bulaon & Others. The idea is to turn train stations, airports, seaports, marinas & fishing ports into hubs of commerce, trade, manufacturing, cottage industry & business centers. All the transport infrastructures should become arteries or conduits for, & of, livelihood. In fact, in rail stations that are close to the sea, we will build artificial islands that can serve also as artificial reefs, so that they can lessen the impact of tidal surges in cases of typhoons or a tsunami when a strong earthquake occurs. We intend to do pilot projects or show windows of these artificial reefs or islands in Sorsogon starting July 1, 2016. Pls read my notes on: https://www.facebook.com/notes/bobby-m-reyes/a-proposal-to-create-artificial-reefs-islands-a-challenge-to-architects-engineer/10201800950602918 FYI.
• A Proposal to Create Artificial Reefs & Islands (A Challenge to Architects & Engineers)  By Bobby M. Reyes in Buluseno Laban sa Geothermal Project (Files)
• Jasper Christian Lobaton Gambito I hope you enter the Philippine Congress and legislate many laws regarding the improvement of our railways. I love your ideas. I am hoping that those would come into reality in times to com.  
•  Ariel Jeremias Azores: Nice comment again .sir Bobby Reyes  
•  Bobby M. Reyes @ Jasper Christian Lobaton Gambito & Ariel Jeremias Azores Thanks for your vote of confidence in my proposals. I can implement them if & when our slates win the provincial positions & many LGU posts in the May 2016 elections. However, on a national level, if our RAM-OFW Party gets to win the presidency, vice presidency, control of the Senate & House of Reps., we can and will have for sure the 12-year plan to reinvent the rail system of our homeland + other reforms. 
• Bobby M. Reyes (Con't.) If will be quite a challenge to lead my home province, as it is the second-poorest in Bicolandia, w/c is said to be poorest, if not one of the poorest regions of the PH. I wrote this report today that lists down 10 of the reasons why Bicol & Sorsogon are poor (as a Note in my Timeline): https://www.facebook.com/notes/bobby-m-reyes/why-bicolandia-is-one-of-the-poorest-regions-in-the-ph/10203335802173248 FYI.
• Why Bicolandia Is One of the Poorest Regions in the PH  And Why Sorsogon Is the Second-poorest Province in the Bicol Region
• Jasper Christian Lobaton Gambito i certainly believe that the railways would be an essential tool to boost up your province's economy. Bicol region have lots of products to offer yet the problem is that there is no efficient and cheap transportation system linking that region to the country's capital. Reviving the railways and extending it up to the very end of Sorsogon might give the Bicolandia the chance to soar high economically.  
•  Pocholo De Leon Gonzales This just reflect how inutile the administration after Marcos. Railway system is the most important and efficient form of transportation. Too bad even the north railway project was stopped and now all the squatters are coming back. Like mother like son.   
•  Jasper Christian Lobaton Gambito Very true. As far as i remember, it was during Cory's administration when Skyway stage 1 started. Now, it is during Noynoy's administration when Skyway stage 3 started. It reflects their mentality that highways and expressways are better than making new railway lines, though the reality is that railways are far more better and efficient, environmentally friendly as well, compared to the highways and expressways which is now the priority of the present administration. 
•  Chaim Smoller Maybe these road projects have to come to fruition and get to be clogged with buses and other vehicles driving off them before any government will realize the value of a good mass transport system. This is what happened in the US. It is a result of post WWII mentality of 2 cars in every garage and the mass transit left to the hoi polloi. Unfortunately it is a US legacy given to the Philippines. It is to Marcos credit that LRT1 was built on similar routings to the tranvia routes.  
•  Jasper Christian Lobaton Gambito true. building roads without controlling the number of vehicles that would use those roads means chaos. those infrastructure projects are just short term remedies.  
•  Chaim Smoller Being from Los Angeles, the freeway capitol of the world, and I am sure Mr. Reyes can appreciate this living east of LA. I was around when the final dismantling of the 1500km local railway system was trashed in favor of freeways and the like. Even the local bus system was reduced to minimum service. The buzz word was freeways and were built over and through many long time stable neighborhoods. Most followed previous rail lines. Then a funny thing happened with all the sole driver cars getting into gridlock almost 30 years after the construction of the first freeway and then (and now) Gov. Jerry Brown introducing a commuter train north from LA in the late 1980s with surplus equipment from Santa Fe ry. started the return to light rail, commuter and Amtrak service improvements at a statewide level. The transit system here is chaos whichever mode is examined. As far as the President, in his defense, I am sure he is overwhelmed like we are, the very people who have to use this dirty, dilapidated, and unsafe system. i do credit PNR for the "deluxe train, but in reality it should have been an addition to regular service with the goal of offering clean, uncrowded and reliable service to those who cannot afford to drive or those who don't want to drive. It should not be offered at a premium price. But i do respect the effort. One of the first steps was this truck ban from of all people-Estrada--interesting. Look at all the venom being spewed on that, but maybe there will be a second look at the tracks being used for just during the day rail use every 30 minutes or so, and realize there should be freight being carried. The economy cannot grow without a good rail system both for people and goods.  
•  Graham John Corry Sadly until the public start to demand it, nothing much will happen. Voters should ask what they going to do about it. Mass Transit of people and goods about the entire country is the only way a country will grow. There are very very few leading nations without trains. I cannot think of one and the Philippines is now a leading nation.   
•  Pocholo De Leon Gonzales We need leaders! Not Liars! Pretenders and Puppets!  
•  Graham John Corry What the country really needs is doers and not wafflers. Every few weeks someone pops their head up to say this that and the other and then disappears. When I tell my people back home how we get around the country there is totally blank looks of disbelief. When a journey takes the same amount of time by road or by train is totally ludicrous.  
•  Graham John Corry I have just completed 270miles (410kms) in 2hours 30 mins. Would'nt be lovely to do the same to Bicol!!!  
•  Bobby M. Reyes @ Graham John Corry Yes, you are right in saying that what the PH "needs is doers and not wafflers." You may not be aware that many of the Filipino policy-&-decision makers are "Europeans", as they belong to a different kind of NATO. Yes, "NATO," as in "No Action, Talk Only."
•  Graham John Corry Hee hee, in my thirty four years of being active for PNR its a standard that's I grown up with. Its that, that really gets my blood pressure up and the fact so many people blame others for their apathy preferring to watch a dysfunctional soap which always seems to be film without any lighting or a talent shows, showing dysfunctional people doing their worst with super bleached white glaring teeth. (Okay I have had my rant) NATO I do like that.   
•  Bobby M. Reyes More on Why Bicol Is Poor ... FYI. It appears that indeed the Sorsogon Electric Co-op (SORECO) electric rates are higher by almost 38% than those charged by the Southern Edison of California. (Mataas o halankaw halos talaga por 38% an singil kan SORECO kun icompara niato sa singil kan Southern Edison of CA.) Nak-lista tabi komo sarong comentario an singil kan Southern Edison. (Listed hereunder as comments the rates of Southern Edison.) Higher electric rates contribute further to the continued poverty of Sorsogon & the Bicol Region. (An mataas na singil ng kuryente lalong ginigibong mas pobre an Sorsogon sagkud an Bicolandia.) So, how can we have electric trains or even electric vehicles? (Entonces, papan-o kita magkaigwa ng mga tren o mga sasakyan na pinapadalagan kan electrisidad?) 
• Bobby M. Reyes (Con't.) Average Cost per kilowatt hour (kWh) of Southern CA Edison (www.sce.com):    Tier 1 (within baseline): $0.13 (PHpesos5.59 per KWh).    Tier 2 (up to 30%): $0.16 (PHpesos6.88).    Tier 3 (31% to 100%): $0.16 (PHpesos6.88).    Tier 4: $0.30 (PHpesos12.90).    Exchange rate of $1.00/PHp43.(Con't.) Pls note: Energy usage is based upon a tiered structure. For most customers, the price they pay per kilowatt hour increases as they use more energy.
•  Southern California Edison - SCE www.sce.com At SCE, we provide electricity and energy efficiency rebates and incentives ...
• Bobby M. Reyes (Con't.) But SCE charges other fees that are already included in the gross billing of U$88.90 (PHpesos3,822.70),Based on 601 kWh (for one month's billing):DWR bond charge: $3.08;DWR energy credit: (minus -$0.22);Transmission charges: $6.73;Distribution charges: $47.47;Nuclear decommissioning charges: $0.24;Conservation incentive adjustment: (minus -$27.46);Public purpose programs charge: $3.65;New system generation charge: $3.46;Competition transition charge: (Minus -$0.81); and Franchise fees: $0.80. 
• Bobby M. Reyes (Conclusion) My friend, who is a customer of SORECO I, used this month 93 kWh and the billing amounted to PHpesos952.57 or PHp10.243 per kWh. Pls compare it to the SoCal Edison's rate of PHpesos6.361 per kWh ($88.90 converted into pesos at the rate of PHpesos43 to $1.00). Edison's rate is PHp3.882 cheaper per kWh or 37.90% cheaper. 
• Graham John Corry Sir, you cannot compare prices like that. Reason being the source of power. Hydro and wind being the best whereas coal is one of the worst. In USA they use high speed steam turbines whereas it mostly diesel which again is one of the worse for conversion factors within the realms of Thermodynamics.  
•  Bobby M. Reyes @ Graham John Corry You are right that we cannot compare prices because we can eventually sell electricity at half the So. CA Edison (SCE) rates. How? Our labor cost is way below those of SCE employees & execs, tens of thousands of whom earn more-than $100-K per year plus bonuses & perks. If SORECO -- under my visionary leadership & plans -- will pay many employees at a minimum of $1,000 (PHp43,000) per month, they will work so hard, esp. with a good pension plan & health-insurance (HMO) benefits. The employees that I will lead will fight tooth & nail for the system that our Think Tank will install, manage & improve. 
• Bobby M. Reyes (Con't.) We don't need to import coal or diesel fuel because we will use hundreds of mini-hydros & thousands of micro-hydro (paddle-wheels connected to impulse turbines), tidal-power stations plus back-up sources like solar, wind farms & bio-mass powered generating centers. Eventually, Sorsogon Province can supply the entire island of Luzon & we can knock down power rates that the electric wholesalers of The Imperial Manila would belly-up & sell to us all their power plants. I just need five to seven years (2016 to 2023) to do it all. 
•  Bobby M. Reyes  (Con't.) By 2023 or earlier, we will be able to accomplish my vision of having electric-powered rail system (freight & commuter trains) with power grids installed along (& often underneath & adjacent to the rail tracks) -- in the Western & Eastern sides of Luzon. All that we need to start the process is to get an overwhelming mandate in May 2016 from our people (just approximately 120,000 to 200,000 votes -- out of 300,000 or so voters). My people have been suffering under Sorsogon's Political Herods for the past 68 years or so. If I can explain my vision in nearly all the barrios & town centers, Sorsogon will see the biggest mandate ever given to a candidate. Suffering people will grab at a viable plan that they can see being done even before the election.
• Bobby M. Reyes (Con't.) Here's the master plan that I published on 11-11-2011 about securing "energy independence" for Sorsogon Province: http://www.mabuhayradio.com/ecology-and-the-environment/sorsogon-bay-can-deliver-energy-independence-from-napocor-but-soreco-and-sorsogon-s-water-districts-have-to-be-reinvented-first No Sorsoganon politician (even those who are supposed to be national leaders) ever proposed even a fourth of what I have envisioned. Probably they have not even dreamed what I have proposed. Altho it is easier said than done, many engineers have said most of the plans are very-much doable.
•  Sorsogon Bay Can Deliver Energy Independence from NAPOCOR But SORECO and Sorsogon’s Water... www.mabuhayradio.com
• Bobby M. Reyes @ Pocholo De Leon Gonzales RE: Your posting: "We need leaders! Not Liars! Pretenders and Puppets!" You are absolutely right. What we intend to do is convert our promises, plans and visions into feasibility studies, business plans and environmental-impact reports. Once our Fellow Filipinos, Overseas Filipinos, OFWs and foreign stakeholder will be able to see the pilot projects in Sorsogon, we will have all the funding support, grants and investments and long-term loans. Eventually our railroad projects in Luzon, Leyte-Samar and Mindanao will initially employ for decades tens of thousands of technical people and workers. And then be responsible for the livelihood of tens of millions of people. We can change in less-than a generation our homeland by achieving first "energy independence" and providing affordable, if not the cheapest, dependable electricity in the ASEAN & helping fight Global Warming @ the same time. Then the trains tracks, stations & other infrastructures will follow. Pls join our Core Group. You can all be Adopted Sorsoganons. 
•  Bobby M. Reyes RE: Sorsogon Bay & Why It Can Support a Sorsogon Bay Area Rapid Transit (SorBART commuter trains): Sorsogon Bay (SorBay) is perhaps the most-important & most-valuable asset of the Province of Sorsogon. Pls see discussion on how to "Save Our Sorsogon (SOS) Bay" and other inland & offshore bodies of water in Sorsogon Province: https://www.facebook.com/bobby.m.reyes/posts/604141029669537 The thread now includes proposal for a quarterly conference on the SorBay. The SorBART is proposed as a medium-term project for SorBay.
• Bobby M. Reyes @ Reynante Bulaon Pls inquire from your friends who are architects or engineers but who are all railfans if they may like to join the Core Group that will do the "SorBART" Project. We expect to have a "SorBART Authority" approved by the new Sorsogon Provincial Board on July 1, 2016 (our first day in office). Then we open its HQ on the same day and start implementing all our plans that we will work out in 2015 & from Jan. 1, 2016, to June 30, 2016. We can lay down the first track on May 1, 2017, from Donsol town (where the butanding or whale shark is found) to Pilar town and on to the new Albay Airport in Daraga town of Albay. The airport is located close to the Sorsogon-Albay boundary. The Donsol-Daraga Airport Line with be the first phase of the SorBART.  Yesterday at 7:23am · Like · 2
•  Reynante Bulaon I would like to be a part of the core group should it materialize sir, but for now i am pursuing a new career path that may provide me with better understanding and exposure to new railroad technologies and innovations that can be applied to SorBART. I can see the project becoming a model for future railway projects and modernization of existing lines, employing the latest technologies to provide a fast, reliable, safe and eco friendly mode of transport.  Yesterday at 7:56am · Unlike · 1
•  Reynante Bulaon Don't forget "cost effective", if we can develop the technology to manufacture our own trains, not limited to the lightweight AGTs built by DOST but also heavy duty passenger coaches, freight wagons especially container flats for intermodal service, and ultimately, locomotives.  Yesterday at 8:01am · Unlike · 1
•  Ariel Jeremias Azores Good idea Reynante Bulaon Yesterday at 8:07am · Unlike · 1
•  Ariel Jeremias Azores How many years from now ? Yesterday at 8:07am · Unlike · 1
• Bobby M. Reyes @ Graham John Corry Casting modesty aside, no Sorsoganon (or even Filipino) community leader has proposed very-bold but doable plans. Once the PH sees 747 jumbo jets landing, and commuter trains running, in Sorsogon -- without any financial assistance from the national gov't -- then perhaps majority of Filipinos will believe in the greater railway plans for Luzon, Leyte-Samar & Mindanao railroad systems. To see is to believe. Yesterday at 8:07am · Like · 1
  
• Bobby M. Reyes Ariel Jeremias Azores July 1, 2016, is just 27 months from April 2014. May 1, 2017, is just 37 months from now. I like to talk projects in months and not in years. As the adage says, "if there is a (political) will, there is a way" of doing even monumental projects. PS. I am not after to make money; I just want to leave a legacy that will stand the test of time. Yesterday at 8:17am · Like · 1
  
• Reynante Bulaon Yes sir Bobby M. Reyes the main problem why most project don't materialize is because their project scope are too large that the cost becomes too high to be approved, if we build it little by little, more like a building block approach wherein we start small, maybe a short line with a few stations and then expand the line by few kilometres every few months, yes it is still costly but by building it progressively the cost won't be much of an issue. Yesterday at 8:22am · Like · 1
  
• Ariel Jeremias Azores Mr .reynante is correc how can you sure Mr Bobby Reyes? Yesterday at 8:25am · Like · 1
  
• Reynante Bulaon I just realized i used that same approach on model railroading, starting with a basic locomotive, two wagons and a circle of track, then later on acquiring additional tracks, turnouts, wagons, and better running locomotives whenever i can, i now have a modest collection. If i would try to aqcuire all of them at once i couldn't afford it, but by buying few items at a time i managed to do so.Yesterday at 8:36am · Like · 1
  
• Bobby M. Reyes @ Reynante Bulaon This is why we will do it phase by phase. Phase I is from Donsol to the next town of Pilar town. Phase II can be from Pilar to Putiao Barrio of Pilar. Phase III is from Putiao to the Daraga International Airport near the boundary of Pilar (Sorsogon) and Daraga (Albay). As more funds come in, we construct a second track & better commuter-rail stations and on to the other towns along SorBay.Yesterday at 12:15pm · Edited · Like · 1
  
• Bobby M. Reyes @ Ariel Jeremias Azores As had been said, there are only two sure things in life: Death and Taxes. Pls read this quote: "Benjamin Franklin said in 1817: ‘In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.’ But never in his wildest dream did he realize that by 2010, ‘death’ would become an adverb of ‘tax’. – Bobby M. Reyes." To read more of it, pls go to: http://www.mabuhayradio.com/parables/a-parable-about-taxation-and-lottery FYI.
  
• A Parable About Taxation and Lottery - MabuhayRadio www.mabuhayradio.com  B, Another parable by Bobby Reyes about taxation and the lottery.Yesterday at 11:46am · Like · Remove Preview
• Bobby M. Reyes @ Ariel Jeremias Azores (Con't.) So IF I don't die by assassination or accident before the May 2016 elections and my slates win the said provincial & LGU elections,there is a high degree of probability that we can push the SorBART project as per the schedule posted earlier in this thread. We should be able to lay down the first track on May 1, 2017, in Donsol town but its completion &/or inauguration will depend on many other circumstances. It will also depend on how our engineers & builders can push the feasibility studies, environmental-impact reports & other factors to a successful conclusion. Yesterday at 12:08pm · Edited · Like · 1
• Graham John Corry Good luck.Yesterday at 12:17pm · Unlike · 1
  
• Bobby M. Reyes @ Graham John Corry Thanks. But I think that the odds favor our success in Sorsogon. My people happen to live in the 2nd-poorest province in what is now the poorest region in the PH. There is no way out of poverty except to give my ideas, as improved by my friends, a chance to be implemented. There is a Filipino idiom, "Kapit patalim." It means that if a person is falling down to his death, he will grab even a sword or a knife with his bare hands just to stop the fatal fall. We, the new honest & sincere leaders, only have to prove that we can finish the airport in Bulan (that remains unfinished since Liberation in 1945) in two years or less -- without the aid from the national gov't. And to top it all, build with the ATIC policies as guidelines, even a 10-mile (16-km.) rail track -- starting in Donsol -- about the same period and nearly all the 800,000 people of Sorsogon will rally like an army of dedicated peasant-soldiers to complete the other projects in the next 23 years. 22 hours ago · Edited · Like · 1
  
• Eugene Ryan Badere Respect sir and Godspeed! 16 hours ago · Unlike · 1
  
• Bobby M. Reyes @ Eugene Ryan Badere As we say in Sorsogon, "Salamatonon" to you for your good wishes. We will succeed in reforming & reinventing Sorsogon as the pilot province of our "ReVOTElution of Hope." We will just need one full year (2015) to ventilate the issues & rally the Filipino youth to our campaign for accountability, transparency, integrity & credibility (ATIC) in governance & in the private sector. Hopefully our new party can win also the national elections & accelerate the changes. 26 minutes ago · Edited · Like
  
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