DOTr clarifies Metro Manila subway project sked
The Department of Transportation on Sunday clarified that the construction of Metro Manila’s first subway system would start in the latter part of next year, contrary to reports that it would already start next month and aggravate traffic conditions in the coming holiday season.
The DOTr was reacting to social media posts and comments saying residents and motorists should brace themselves for monstrous traffic jams because of the project, with the worst supposedly expected in Parañaque City.
In a statement, the department said the groundbreaking for the depot, training center and the first stations of the Japan-funded Metro Manila Subway Project (MMSP) is scheduled in the third and fourth quarters of 2018, after which construction will follow.
What will happen next month, it said, is the signing of the exchange of notes (EN) between the Japanese and Philippine governments on the MMSP, after the project was approved by the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) board on Sept. 12.
The signing will take place at the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit in Manila, with President Duterte and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as witnesses.
“The EN will set out Japan’s commitment to finance MMSP, including the terms for such financing,” the DOTr said.
The 30-km MMSP is among the flagship infrastructure projects under the Duterte administration’s Build Build Build Program. The subway is expected to be running partially by 2022, and fully operational by 2025.
The proposed route of the MMSP Phase I or the Central Zone starts at Mindanao Avenue-Quirino Highway in Quezon City and ends in FTI, Taguig City, with a proposed depot in Barangay Ugong, Valenzuela City.
There will be 13 underground stations traversing six cities: Valenzuela (for the depot), QC, Pasig City, Makati City, Taguig, and a small portion of Parañaque City. —Jerome Aning
