Metro Manila Subway project, kailan mapapakinabangan? | Reporter’s Notebook
Sa kasakuluyan, ongoing na ang construction sa bahagi ng Valenzuela at Mindanao Avenue sa Quezon City. Nasa 15.57% ang construction progress ng Metro Manila Subway as of July 2024. Kailan na nga ba ito mapapakinabangan? Panoorin ang video. #ReportersNotebook #GMAPublicAffairs #GMADocumentaries
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00Traffic jams have long been a problem for the public.
00:09Passengers are also suffering from long queues,
00:13traffic jams,
00:17and lack of public transport.
00:21In addition to buses and jeeps,
00:23government solutions include train or railway projects
00:27to reduce traffic,
00:29have effective and affordable public transportation.
00:41In 2018,
00:42Reporters' Notebook discussed the ongoing railway projects of the government.
00:49Almost six years have passed,
00:51what happened to the projects?
00:55Have commuters benefited from the projects?
01:07In a study conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency in 2014,
01:12the productivity loss per day in Metro Manila is estimated to reach Php 2.4 billion.
01:20And if the traffic problem is not solved,
01:22it is estimated to reach Php 6 billion per day by 2030.
01:29According to DOTR Undersecretary for Railways Jeremy Rejino,
01:33the agency is currently working on 13 railway projects,
01:39aside from MRT-7,
01:40including LRT Line 1-Calvita Extension.
01:44It has a project cost of Php 77 billion under the PPP,
01:50or Public-Private Partnership,
01:52Official Development Assistance of the Japan International Cooperation Agency,
01:56or JICA,
01:57and Government Fund.
01:59It is 11.7 kilometers long,
02:02running from Baclaran to Baco Orcavite.
02:06When we first visited it in 2018,
02:09the project is in the pre-construction phase,
02:11and plans to start the partial operations in 2021.
02:16But due to the pandemic,
02:17there was also a delay in the project.
02:28I'm going home.
02:33One of the most anticipated passengers in LRT Line 1-Calvita Extension
02:37is Justine May Papio, or JM.
02:42From their home in Baco Orcavite,
02:45she experiences daily chaos when commuting.
02:49JM works as an admin staff in a private company in Paranaque and Makati City.
02:56Instead of a one-hour trip,
02:59I woke up two hours earlier because it was too much of a hassle.
03:03Instead of going in fresh, I went in right away.
03:12Every day, JM says,
03:14it's hard for her to cope with other passengers,
03:17and the lack of public transport.
03:20Coming from Calvite,
03:21the transportation to my workplace is very limited.
03:26I'm not sure if I'll be able to ride in those two hours,
03:30because sometimes it's really standing.
03:32You really have to stand at the bus door
03:35just to get in on time.
03:38JM says,
03:39because of the chaos,
03:40she experiences a lot of discomfort.
03:43It's a great advantage.
03:44When the situation is really bad, it's really tight.
03:48A one-hour trip is usually doubled or tripled
03:53when it comes to rush hours.
03:55If I'm in Makati,
03:56I guess I've been there for three hours
03:58since I've been on three different rides.
04:01I'm on my way to the airport.
04:04This is July 2024.
04:06The construction progress of the LRT Line 1 Cavita Extension
04:09is at 74% according to DOTR.
04:13This is at Rojas Boulevard.
04:15You can see the train tracks here.
04:17It's almost ready.
04:18There are railings.
04:20By the end of this year,
04:21we will open five stations in Paranaque.
04:25That will be operational.
04:27As part of the government's so-called railway renaissance,
04:31MRT-3's rehabilitation and maintenance
04:36This is the train that travels from Taft, Pasay
04:39to North Avenue, Quezon City.
04:42In 1999, MRT-3 was fully operational.
04:46We can already see the progress and development,
04:49the improvement of our train system in the MRT-3 line.
04:55There are less glitches.
04:58But what is considered one of the government's biggest railway projects
05:02is the Metro Manila Subway Project.
05:05This is the first subway or underground railway in the country
05:09that was also called the Project of the Century.
05:12The railway system is 33 kilometers long
05:15and will have 17 stations from Valenzuela City to Paranaque City.
05:22The funding for the project will start from Php 488 billion
05:27from the official development assistance of JICA.
05:31In our interview with DOTR in 2018,
05:35they said the target is to finish the three subway stations by 2022.
05:40The target is to be operational by 2027.
05:47But due to the delay, due to the pandemic,
05:49the target was changed to operational date and it was made in 2031.
05:53In the subway, we are also hoping to achieve partial operations
05:59by the end of 2028.
06:01That is from Valenzuela to Ortigas.
06:06At present, ongoing construction is underway in Valenzuela
06:10and Mindanao Avenues in Quezon City.
06:13The construction progress of the Metro Manila Subway is at 15.57%
06:18as of July 2024.
06:22To be connected to the LRT-1, MRT-3, MRT-7 and subway,
06:27the Grand Central Station or Unified Common Station will also be built.
06:32It will be located in Quezon City, which was funded by Php 2.8 billion.
06:37In 2023, the first target was to finish the project,
06:40but there was also a delay due to the need to stop the construction due to the pandemic.
06:46At present, the construction progress of the Unified Common Station is at 81.49%.
06:52It's ongoing. It will be finished next year.
06:55Another project of the DOT-R is the North-South Commuter Railway.
07:01It will travel from Clark, Pampanga to Calamba, Laguna.
07:06The total project cost is Php 873.6 billion
07:11from the official development assistance of JICA and a loan from a bank.
07:16This year is the original target completion date of the project,
07:19but due to the road right-of-way problem,
07:23the project's target partial operations are already in the fourth quarter of 2027.
07:29We are on target. We are on time.
07:32The partial operations for Clark to Valenzuela, December of 2027.
07:39And our worst-case scenario is first quarter of 2028.
07:44Another major railway project of the government is the LRT-2 West and East Extension.
07:50For the LRT-2 East Extension, Php 9.5 million was allocated by the government operating in 2021.
07:59The Php 10 million for the West Extension is currently under a comprehensive study, said the DOT-R.
08:07There is an ongoing study for the rehabilitation of Line 2,
08:13because our new workers are already there.
08:16So that's a total of 10-kilometer expansion.
08:21If we add up the 13 railway projects,
08:245 are ongoing construction and rehabilitation,
08:271 is already completed,
08:293 are in the pre-construction phase,
08:31and 4 are under feasibility study.
08:37The DOT-R admitted that their main problem in implementing projects is the road right-of-way.
08:44It is not easy to resolve.
08:46It's not that easy.
08:47There are so many special laws in right-of-way acquisition.
08:50Road Agreement, Safety Guidelines of JICA and the ADB.
08:55There is the LENA Law or the Housing Urban Development Law.
08:59We cannot just pay the landowner that his document is incomplete.
09:05For the civil society group, Alt-Mobility,
09:08it's a big deal that the land that will pass through before the project starts needs to be sorted first.
09:13If the project is delayed, the layout of the rail services will take a long time.
09:20Second, the budget allocated for this will be wasted.
09:25The DOT-R Railway Sector is now fighting for their agency.
09:30That's what we're fighting for.
09:32Before we start the project, let's fund it and commence the right-of-way.
09:37We are asking the DOT-R to allow us, even prior to the loan agreement,
09:45as long as the NEDA-ICC approves, the right-of-way acquisition will continue.
09:52The addition of the DOT-R Railway Sector will have many effects if there is a delay in the project.
09:58The project costs will not increase.
10:01There will be standby costs and prolongation costs.
10:04We will have to extend the hiring of personnel and consultants.
10:08As time goes by, the price of land increases.
10:11Most of all is the loss of time and opportunity.
10:15Now that the construction of railway projects in the country is happening at the same time,
10:20it is important to ensure that each project is being carried out properly and correctly.
10:26Even if it was funded by a loan, given by another country, or from the government,
10:31it should be managed properly.
10:35Because we are the ones who will pay for the construction of the railways,
10:39Until next Saturday, I am Mackie Pulido.
10:42I am Jun Venaracion and this is Reporters Tungkuk.
11:09www.reporters-tungkuk.com