The Metro Manila Subway Project

The London Underground began operation in 1863, making it the world’s oldest metro subway system. It is as much a part of the cultural identity of the city as “Big Ben” or Buckingham Palace. As of December 2017, 178 cities in 56 countries around the world use approximately 180 metro systems. Almost all of them incorporate both underground and aboveground railways—like the Philippines’s light rail systems—in their metro transportation network.

However, underground transportation is standard across the globe. Line 1 of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway opened in 1974 and is considered one of the best with the highest number of passengers at nearly 3 billion riders per year. The Shanghai Metro is the longest, with 743 kilometers of track. New York City’s has the most stations.

Underground subways are operating in Dubai, Kazakhstan, Algeria, Romania, Venezuela, and even in North Korea.

The concept of an underground subway system for Metro Manila was first proposed in 1973 by the forerunner of the current Japan International Cooperation Agency. In 1995, Bonifacio Land Development Corporation, a consortium led by Metro Pacific Investments Corp, made a successful bid to become the Bases Conversion and Development Authority partner in the development of Bonifacio Global City (BGC), the former Fort Andres Bonifacio, site of the headquarters of the Philippine Army.

After the conversion of the base for private use and ownership, another proposal was made to build a subway from Bulacan through BGC and to Bacoor. The change of ownership of BGC and the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis saw that plan shelved.

In November 2017, a loan agreement was signed between President Duterte and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe for the subway, dependent on approval by government authorities. By March 2018, Japan signed the loan and in November 2018 a Japanese consortium and Metro Development Co. Ltd. got the P11 billion contract to build the line. Early in 2019, a Japanese-filipino consortium, including EEI Corporation, won the design-and-build contract for the first three stations.

This past week, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade revealed that the P355-billion Metro Manila Subway Project will partially operate to serve commuters before the end of 2021.

Ignore for a moment the economic benefits that will accrue from this new transportation system. Let’s consider it only as a convenience or even a luxury for Manileños. The reality is that “the country’s first subway system will be financed via Japanese Official Development Assistance, with an interest of 0.10 percent per annum, payable in 40 years, inclusive of a grace period of 12 years.” The total cost of that loan over 40 years is less than 3 percent.

But there is a risk, a potentially great risk.

The reality is that both internal and external players have taken advantage of Filipinos since time immemorial. We have seen our money squandered, stolen, and put to useless purposes, the iconic “Bridge to Nowhere.” We have seen projects that started out with promise turn into a nightmare in a few short years. The Manila light-rail projects have haunted our dreams for decades.

This has been a continuing problem of “government” and not of any particular presidential administration.

The Metro Manila Subway is a game changer. It is highly visible, costly, and could be an exceptionally positive transportation system development for the NCR. Now, it is up to the government to prove itself to the people.