Metro Manila subway to withstand floods, assures Budget chief

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno TOTO LOZANO/Presidential FILE Photo

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno assured on Thursday that the “ambitious” Metro Manila Subway Project is possible amid the perennial problem of flooding in the capital region.

“The floodings should not be feared. There are new technologies that would address that,” Diokno said during a panel discussion at the 2017 Arangkada Philippines forum.

The budget secretary added that Japanese experts will also help the government finish the project by 2022.

Diokno also pointed out that in other countries, subway systems are being built even under bodies of water.

On Tuesday, the National Economic Development Authority (Neda) Board gave its nod to 12 projects including the first phase of the subway program.

READ: Metro Manila subway plan, other projects OKd at Neda meeting

Neda Secretary Ernesto Pernia previously disclosed that the project will cost up to $7 billion or more than P300 billion.

The subway’s initial plan will connect Quezon City and Taguig City. It was, however, later modified to add another spur line from FTI in Taguig to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

READ: Metro Manila subway extension to Naia approved 

Pernia also said that the project was given the green light by President Rodrigo Duterte as part of the government’s “Build, Build, Build” program which aims to usher the “Golden Age of Infrastructure in the Philippines” by 2022. IDL