Transfer of Embo barangays to Taguig affected Makati’s subway project

Makati City Mayor Abigail “Abby” Binay speaks with Inquirer editors and staff on January 25, 2024. During the candid conversation, Binay talked about various issues including the ongoing projects in Makati, the city’s relationship with Taguig, and her future plans in politics. INQUIRER.net / Zeus Legaspi

MANILA, Philippines — The private proponents for Makati City’s stalled P200-billion subway project would need to come up with a different mass transportation initiative as a subway would no longer be viable, Makati Mayor Abigail Binay said on Thursday.

In a candid conversation with Inquirer editors and staff, Binay said there have been ongoing talks on how the proponents can still “proceed with the venture without it being a subway.”

The project’s publicly listed proponents, Philippine InfraDev Holdings, said in September last year that the subway’s alignment would no longer be feasible.

This, after the Supreme Court in 2021 ruled that the 10 Enlisted Men’s Barrios (Embo) barangays previously belonging to Makati should be under Taguig’s jurisdiction.

READ: Makati subway stalls on Taguig win in territorial row

Some of the 11-kilometer subterranean train’s proposed stations would fall under the Embo barangays.

“It was supposed to be ten stations and then it will be cut into half,” Binay told the Inquirer.

“Iibahin mo talaga yung alignment. Plus yung number of commuters…bawas na bawas. Hindi na siya logistically viable and it’s also not economically viable,” she continued.

(You would have to alter the alignment. Plus, the number of commuters was severely cut. It’s no longer logistically viable, and it’s also not economically viable.)

According to the mayor, about 300,000 people live in Embo barangays – all of whom are now residents of Taguig.

When ideas of bike lanes and other means of transportation were floated, the Makati mayor insisted on mass transportation, saying that she wanted a “people mover” to ferry commuters in the city.

READ: Makati hits Taguig’s ‘inaction’ on Embo health center closures

When discussing collaborating with Taguig to salvage the project, Binay cannot help but express her frustrations.

“Try mo kausapin sila,” she said in jest.

(Try talking to them.)

Makati and Taguig had since been embroiled in a bitter dispute following the 2021 Supreme Court decision.

“It’s very confusing and disheartening,” Binay said about her past experience in coordinating with the neighboring city’s local government.