Groundbreaking for Metro Manila subway set in January 2019

MANILA, Philippines — Construction of the highly anticipated Metro Manila subway, a project which is expected to address traffic congestion in Metro Manila, is slated to commence next month, according to Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade.

Tugade said the new date for the project’s groundbreaking is set in January.

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) was earlier targeting to break ground for the project on Dec. 19, but did not push through according to Tugade due “changes in available schedules.”

“We are postponing the groundbreaking for a later date. We are looking for a common schedule for President Duterte and the Japanese counterparts,” the DOTr said.

The Metro Manila subway is a 35-kilometer line that will run from Mindanao Avenue in Quezon City to NAIA in Pasay City.

Partial operations is eyed by 2022, which entails the opening of a training center, depot, and three stations namely, Quirino Highway, Tandang Sora, and North Avenue.

With a total project cost of P356.96 billion, the subway is the biggest single project under the Build Build Build program of the Duterte administration.

Last March, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Philippine government signed a P51.34 billion loan agreement for the construction of the first phase of the Metro Manila subway project.

Since the project is being funded by JICA, the subway would have a Japanese contractor.

Meanwhile, Philippine Infradev Holdings Inc., formerly named IRC Properties Inc., officially commenced early this month the soil testing for a proposed 10-kilometer intracity subway in Makati.

The company will implement a six-month geo-testing that involves drilling small holes and getting soil and rock samples for analysis from at least 200 points along the proposed subway alignment.

The move is part of preliminary works prior to official groundbreaking of the $3.7 billion infrastructure project.