Double down on subways

When visiting cities abroad, one thing that strikes us most is the efficiency of the transport systems. Upon arrival at the airport, we realize the ease of getting to our hotel in a variety of ways. We can’t help but compare how it is in the Philippines which has been left behind even by our neighbors when it comes to inner-city transportation. Frustration is easily felt by everyday commuters, much less first-time tourists in our country.

Credit the Duterte administration for we finally have the Metro Manila Subway Project in the works. Last Monday, President Bongbong Marcos Jr., Department of Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista, and other officials inaugurated two stations — the Anonas and Camp Aguinaldo stations, both in Quezon City.

This is another milestone for the MMSP, after the inauguration of the Pasig station (beside Capitol Commons) in October. A portion of Meralco Avenue was barricaded and has been unpassable for over four months now, although construction has yet to start.

Costing P357 billion and spanning

33 kilometers, the

MMSP will likely not be finished during the term of President

Marcos Jr., or even beyond 2028. This is reminiscent of the MRT-3 project that was planned and completed not within a single administration. We may see portions of the MMSP running around 2025, particularly its northern portions in Valenzuela and Quezon City, far from the business districts.

We are knowledgeable about how subways benefit a city and its people. In cities like New York, London and Tokyo, we see people from all walks of life taking the subway. In fact, the Philippines is over a century late in constructing its own subway. Notably, the London Underground opened in 1863, the New York subway in 1904, and the Tokyo Metro in 1927, to name a few.

If I were the President, I would double down on the MMSP by planning additional lines now to the ongoing construction to ensure the continuity of the project even before its completion.

The MMSP will traverse the north-to-south route, from Valenzuela to Parañaque City, without passing through the main CBD of the Philippines, which is Makati City.

While we are aware that Makati is in the process of building its own subway, having a subway around Metro Manila that is not connected to Makati is akin to having a subway in New York City except for Manhattan. There must eventually be connecting stations to Makati City, not just a few, but multiple ones.

Other untapped areas for additional stations must be the eastern portion of Metro Manila and even portions of Rizal province, considering the density of the people there, and the lack of highways connecting it to the CBD. Cainta and Antipolo, for instance, are cities that must be considered parts of Metro Manila already given the economic activity and the number of residents there. I recently visited the areas and I was surprised by how fast these areas have progressed. Proof of this is the rising cost of land in these areas.

There may be skepticism about whether the MMSP will work, but all signs point to the need for subways. Developed cities all have subways since the idea is to move people around the city, not cars and other vehicles. It is a sign of progress, of which we are already over a century late.

It is my humble recommendation for the administration to begin more subway projects to interconnect with the MMSP, even before 2028, to ensure its continuity in the administrations to come.

“There may be skepticism about whether the MMSP will work, but all signs point to the need for subways.

“We can’t help but compare how it is in the Philippines which has been left behind even by our neighbors when it comes to inner-city transportation.