Metro Manila Subway project to create 59K jobs —Tugade

The Metro Manila Subway project is expected to generate thousands of jobs amid the displacement of thousands of workers nationwide due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said Friday.

During the virtual media factory tour and factory acceptance test of the machines to be used for the construction, Tugade said the project will require at least 9,000 slots that will be up for direct hiring and up to 50,000 as indirect employment.

“Matindi ang employment generation dito,” he said.

Tugade reiterated the subway project is still on track to start partial operations by the end of 2021.

He said construction activities have been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic but workers are now catching up with the targets.

Meanwhile, full operations of the country's first-ever underground mass transport system, dubbed as the “Project of the Century,” is set for 2024 or 2025, Tugade added.

The Department of Transportation said once completed and fully operational, the Metro Manila Subway will cut down travel time from Valenzuela Depot to Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 to about 45 minutes.

It will have a total of 17 stations, including a terminal station at the NAIA Terminal 3.—LDF, GMA News