Mega Manila Subway project up for NEDA board approval

The planned underground mass transportation system connecting major business districts and government centers in Metro Manila is up for approval by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) board next month, a Cabinet official said.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said yesterday that the proposed 25-kilometer Mega Manila Subway is among the agenda of the NEDA Board in September, which will be chaired by President Rodrigo R. Duterte.

“The subway will be taken down in the next NEDA Board meeting,” Pernia told reporters. “The subway is going to be the project of the century for the Philippines as it will cost something like $5 billion.”

He disclosed the feasibility study for the R227 billion Mega Manila Subway has already been completed after it was financed by a grant from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Pernia said the government aims to seal the official development assistance (ODA) loan from Japan in November while Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is attending the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit.

NEDA chief also added the government is expecting an interest rate of below one percent for the multibillion pesos ODA from the Japanese government.

Once completed, Mega Manila Subway is expected to serve around 370,000 passengers per day in its opening year, complementing the congested lines of Metro Rail Transit (MRT) and Light Rail Transit (LRT).

The Mega Manila Subway is also among the nine bigticket infrastructure projects that the Philippines wanted to open for possible financing from Japanese government.

Among the other projects included in the list are the Dalton Pass East alignment alternative road project (R4.01 billion), the Malolos-Clark railway project (R95.368 billion) and HARVEST project (R2.05 billion).

HARVEST stands for Harnessing Agribusiness Opportunities through Robust and Vibrant Entrepreneurship Supportive of Peaceful Transformation.

Other projects with no cost estimates but included in the list are the road network development project in conflictaffect areas in Mindanao, the Circumferential Road three missing link project, and the Pasig-river Marikina Channel Improvements project (Phase IV).

Likewise, the Philippine government included the Cavite Industrial Area Flood Management project and Malitubig-Maridagao Irrigation project phase III as part of the plan that may get financing from Japan.

Pernia earlier said the nine projects are still subject to further refinement, noting the number may also change after their third-round of meeting with the Japanese representatives.

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said the projects will be under the “hybrid” public-private partnership scheme where the government would first build the infrastructure and later bid out the operation and maintenance of the projects to the private sector.

The finance chief also said the projects are not purely funded the Japanese government as multi-lateral institutions, like the Japan International Cooperation Agency and Japan Bank for International Cooperation, may also take part of the Philippines infrastructure push.