Gov’t postpones subway project bidding

Makati City (j_0_n / Flickr)

MANILA – The Filipinos will have to wait until 2016 to have its first subway line after the government announced on Wednesday that they “postponed” the bidding of the said project. The subway line will run from Makati City to Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig.

“We will postpone it because the DOTC already has so many projects being completed,” said PPP Center executive director Cosette Canilao,

The 12-kilometer underground mass transit system project will connect the top financial districts of the country including BGC and Makati with Pasay. This was already approved by the investment coordinating committee of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and will be under the helm of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC),

However, it still needs to undergo the approval of the Cabinet-level NEDA board under President Aquino before investors can bid. This project costs about P374, by far the most expensive under the flagship PPP program.

“There was no problem with the viability of the project. It’s just that the DOTC is already doing a lot of projects now,” said Canilao.

Out of 10, the DOTC is currently managing the implementation of four projects including the automated fare collection system at three Manila railways, the building and maintenance of Mactan Cebu International Airport, the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1 extension and operation and maintenance, and the Southwest Integrated Transport System Project.