Improving land travel across the Bicol Region should come before the country reaches for the stars, Senator Robin Padilla argued Tuesday, July 29, as he urged the government to channel attention toward long-neglected transportation needs in the provinces.
Padilla, a native of Camarines Norte, told the Senate plenary that reaching his home province by road still consumes roughly 12 hours. He recalled that rail service once linked Bicol to the rest of Luzon during his younger years, a connection that no longer exists.
“Sana po, mabigyan natin ng atensyon na bago tayo mapunta sa rocket, magkaroon din tayo ng bullet train,” he said.
The senator framed his appeal around the wider gap between the government’s forward-looking ambitions and the daily realities faced by Filipinos in distant provinces. Faster rail transport, he said, is a reachable target that would deliver real benefits to those communities. He pointed to Indonesia as proof, noting that the neighboring country already runs a high-speed railway, and he called on officials to revisit earlier plans to bring back trains that never advanced.
His remarks followed President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s fifth State of the Nation Address, in which the President said Cagayan would serve as the nation’s gateway to space and host its first spaceport. Marcos also announced a sounding rocket launch test slated for next year through a partnership with a South Korean aerospace firm.
Padilla voiced support for those space plans during his manifestation, recalling his childhood fascination with the moon landing and describing the pursuit of space as an aspiration held by many nations.
“Ang kahilingan ko lang po, bago po tayo makarating diyan, eh maayos muna po yung transportasyon namin sa Bicol,” he said.
