Construction of the Metro Manila Subway Project (MMSP) is set to start as the Philippines unveiled Sunday a tunnel drilling machine to start the underground construction of the country’s first-ever subway.
The work is being undertaken with Japanese financial support to ease road congestion in overcrowded Manila.
President Rodrigo Duterte, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, and Japanese Ambassador Kazuhiko Koshikawa witnessed the lowering and positioning of the first tunnel boring machine in Barangay Ugong, Valenzuela City and this coincided with the Philippines’ 124th commemoration of declaring independence from Spain.
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The MMSP construction will continue even after Duterte’s term end son June 30 while the funds needed to complete the project are not dependent on the General Appropriations Act and it is funded by a loan granted to the Philippine government by the Japanese government through the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
“Past is past. But until now, Japan has continued to help us to the extent that (we are) being treated as almost a part of Japan that should be developed in due time,” Duterte said.
He said the subway is a “gift from the Japanese people to the people of the Philippines” and thanked Japan for funding the project.
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The 33-kilometer subway is meant to cut by half the one-hour travel time between Manila’s major airport and the northern portion of the metropolis and the underground MMSP will have 17 stations running from Valenzuela City to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 in Pasay City.
It is funded by a 357.8 billion yen ($2.66 billion) loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency and is expected to be made partially operational in 2025 and fully operational in 2027.
