After right-of-way delays, work finally begins on Metro Manila Subway
MANILA, Philippines — After right-of-way issues delayed the project yet again, the actual construction for Metro Manila Subway is finally set to begin with the deployment of the tunnel boring machine, setting into motion the excavation of the line's underground stations.
At the launching of the Metro Manila Subway Project's tunnel boring machine on Monday morning, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said that the subway project has now passed the "point of no return" for finally constructing the country's first subway.
“During the recent holiday rush when I inspected NAIA Terminal 3, I discovered the urgent need of providing a railway station as one of the multi-modal land-based transport options for arriving passengers,” he explained.
To recall, the project was delayed yet again over right-of-way issues after some property owners still refused to give up their land to the government.
Right of way is the right to pass over or through real property owned by someone else. Under Republic Act No. 8974, “private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation.”
Similar issues are a perennial problem of infrastructure projects in the Philippines. The same thing, for example, happened with the Philippine National Railways in Laguna and the MRT-7 along Commonwealth.
The much-touted "future crown jewel" of the Philippine railway system is set to run from Valenzuela City to Bicutan in Taguig, with 17 stations and a fleet of eight-car train sets that can take on over 2,000 passengers each. Once built, it can serve over 500,000 commuters every day.
'More investment in transportation systems'
At the launch, Matsuda Kenichi, the Japanese Embassy in the Philippines minister and deputy chief of mission, also said that the “new dawn for the Philippines’ transportation story” is on the horizon with the Japan-funded project set to help ease congestion in Metro Manila.
“Enhanced productivity for all is also seen to result from improved reliability and punctuality embedded in the subway technologies,” he said.
According to the DOTr, around 1,200,000 cubic meters of soil are set to be excavated with the tunnel-boring machines for the partial operability section of the project. Pre-construction work is ongoing for its Quirino Highway and Tandang Sora stations.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in his speech also vowed to ramp up spending in transport infrastructure to address the longstanding transport woes in Metro Manila.
"We will continue to invest and improve on our transportation systems as well as to pursue more projects in the years to come, so that Filipinos can gain greater access to places of work, commerce, recreation, and other vital areas," the chief executive said in his speech.
"An effective and efficient transportation system will have multiplier effects on employment, the economy, and society; it will bring comfort, convenience, and an easier life for all." — Franco Luna
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