Metro Manila Subway construction set to start as tunnel boring machine lowered

Construction of the Metro Manila Subway Project (MMSP) is set to start as the tunnel boring machine to be used to drill underground was lowered on Sunday.

President Rodrigo Duterte, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, and Japanese Ambassador Kazuhiko Koshikawa witnessed the lowering and positioning of the first tunnel boring machine in Barangay Ugong, Valenzuela City, according to a report by Mav Gonzales on GMA News' 24 Oras on Sunday.

The MMSP construction will continue even if Duterte's term is set to end on June 30.

Tugade said the funds needed to complete the MMSP are not dependent on the General Appropriations Act. Instead, the project is funded by a loan granted to the Philippine government by the Japanese government through the Japan International Cooperation Agency, he said.

The 33-kilometer underground MMSP will have 17 stations running from Valenzuela City to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 in Pasay City.

It is expected to be partially operational in 2025 and fully operational in 2027.

The rail transport system is expected to cut travel time from Quezon City to NAIA from one hour and 10 minutes to just 35 minutes, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said.

Duterte also inspected the train at the at the MMSP Depot in Valenzuela City and unveiled the state-of-the-art train simulator for the Philippine Railways Institute. The simulator will be used in training machinists who will operate the subway.

Koshikawa said the MMSP is a "testament to the friendship between Japanese and Philippine people... Today the lowering of the tunnel boring machine is such a huge turning point. It will unveil a new era in the Philippines."

Duterte then thanked Japan for funding the project and giving very good terms.

"Bayad is .01 and may grace period ka for 12 years. Alam mo, 'pag ganu'n ang obligasyon mo, it is really... gratis na 'yan. It is a gift from the Japanese people to the people of the Philippines," he said.

"We are being treated as almost a part of Japan that should be developed in due time. Hindi ko lang maano but I'd like to express my gratitude all over again," Duterte added.

The DOTr said the tunnel boring machine "can dig up to 600 cubic meters of soil and build up to 12 meters of tunnels per day, through its massive rotating cutting wheels that can break up hard soil and rocks easily."

The MMSP will use 25 tunnel boring machines, it added.

Build Build Build

The President also revealed in his speech that he asked that Davao City, his hometown, be treated as last priority in the government's Build Build Build infrastructure program.

He said his daughter Sara Duterte, the incumbent mayor of Davao City, wanted the city to be among the first beneficiaries of the program.

"But I told her, 'Anak, we have to give allowance to the people.' Make my city the last beneficiary," Duterte said.

"If by fortunate chance, mabigyan kami nitong bagong administration, then I would say na salamat because nahuli talaga kami," he said.

"The simple reason really is when you are there, you are the president, huwag mong unahin 'yang bahay mo. Unahin mo muna 'yung... you fix the house of everybody," Duterte said. —KG, GMA News