PRESS RELEASE
August 6, 2009
Office of Caloocan City Mayor Enrico “Recom” Echiverri
Ref. Public Information Office
Telefax 3244644

The North and Southrail Linkages Project can now be realized after the Local Inter-Agency Committee (LIAC) chaired by Caloocan City Mayor Enrico “Recom” Echiverri successfully cleared the Caloocan segment of the Philippine National Railways (PNR) right-of-way.

Echiverri, who chairs the Local Inter-Agency Committee (LIAC) that supervised the clearing, relocation and resettlement of informal occupants within the PNR right-of-way, officially welcomed guests at a ceremony which turned over the Caloocan segment of rail linkages project.

During the event held along C-3 Road, the National Housing Authority (NHA), represented by Vice President and Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) chair Noli “Kabayan” De Castro, turned over 8.5 kilometers of cleared areas in the city from Maypajo to Sangandaan to PNR General Manager Manuel D. Andal in preparation for the modernization of the railways system.

According to Echiverri, the clearing of the Caloocan segment by the Urban Poor Affairs Office-led LIAC resulted in the 100 percent completion in the clearing operations for the entire city section of the linkages project stretching from Barangays 5 to 73.

Mayor Recom also reported to the guests that the city government was able to successfully facilitate the in-city relocation of some 1,959 families living beside the PNR tracks and with not one family complaining of any human rights violation during the two-year ordeal.

“I am very pleased to note that the LIAC was successful in its goals to clear the PNR rights-of-way of informal settler families and deliver all needed basic services and programs to qualified beneficiaries prior to rehabilitation of the railway system,” he said.

The mayor explained that Caloocan City is at the meeting point of the two rail linkages project, the North Luzon Railway System Project or Northrail (Northline) and the South Luzon Railway System Project or Southrail (Southline).

The Northrail will provide fast and reliable mass transit system from Caloocan to Clark and the provinces of Central and Northern Luzon at an approximate distance of 80.291 kilometers, he said.

While, on the other hand, the Southrail will run from Caloocan to Calamba, Laguna at an approximate distance of 65.90 kilometers, he added.

Relocation operations for the city commenced as early as 2007 with Echiverri assuring affected residents of an in-city relocation in Northville II-B resettlement site in Barangay 171, Bagumbong.