Aquino: Japan vows better study on Metro Manila subway system

MANILA, Philippines — Japan has promised to conduct a more comprehensive study on the feasibility of building a subway system in Metro Manila, President Benigno Aquino III said late Tuesday night.

In his arrival statement after his visit in Japan, Aquino said he thanked Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for the studies conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) that aim to improve the transportation systems in Metro Manila and in nearby areas.

"Dagdag pa rito, nangako ang Japan na gumawa ng mas detalyadong pag-aaral para tukuyin kung posible ang isang subway system para sa kalakhang Maynila," Aquino said.

"Naniniwala po tayo na ang matibay na imprastruktura ay sandigan ng mas malakas na ekonomiya," the President also said.

Aquino's statement comes after the JICA released earlier this month a transport infrastructure roadmap for Metro Manila, Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite and Laguna, as requested by the National Economic Development Authority

The roadmap includes preliminary studies for a subway project in the said areas and for a new project on the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

"We will consider the possibility of further assistance for the Subway and New NAIA, which we believe Japanese technologies can be utilized," JICA Philippines Chief Representative Noriaki Niwa said.

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) unveiled last March major railway projects including the proposed P135-billion project to build an underground mass rail service between the Makati central business district and Pasay City.

The project is a proposed 20-kilometer loop that would consist 16 kilometers of tunnel and four kilometers of elevated railway especially in the reclaimed area in Pasay City.

It would consist of 11 stations consisting of five underground, four interchanges and two elevated.