Right-of-way issues continue to hound Metro Manila Subway Project

Securing right-of-way for properties that will be impacted by the construction of the Metro Manila Subway remained a key obstacle to the substantial progress of the nation's first underground train system.

At a press briefing following the lowering of tunnel boring machines at the subway’s North Avenue Station in Quezon City on Thursday, Project Manager engineer Mikee Mendoza said that the overall progress rate of the subway project is at 40%.

“It corresponds to the design, right-of-way procurement, and construction,” Mendoza said.

As far as construction progress is concerned, however, the completion rate is currently at only 11%, she said.

Current construction progress involves the building of posts, tunneling works, and station concourses for the first four stations of the subway —East Valenzuela, Quirino Highway, Tandang Sora, and North Avenue.

Also counted in the construction progress is the completion of the depot and the Philippine Railway Institute Building.

TIGNAN: Mga tunnel boring machine para sa ginagawang Metro Manila Subway Project. pic.twitter.com/r71Fui093c

— Ted Cordero (@Ted_Cordero) March 7, 2024

Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista admitted there are issues with right-of-way acquisition.

“Merong isang station may tatamaan na building na pag-aari ng Department of Education… [which is] considered an important cultural property,” Bautista said.

(The construction of one station will affect a building owned by the Department of Education, which is considered an important cultural property.)

Several homeowners also oppose the subway’s alignment, which will pass through their properties, he added.

Last July, the DOTr also raised the right-of-way issue. At the time, the construction progress was at 5.6%.

Transportation Undersecretary for Railways Jeremy Regino said the government will continue to negotiate for right-of-way with affected property owners.

Regino said the last resort is to file petitions for expropriation in court.

Nevertheless, Bautista said the government has already secured 55% of the right-of-way for the project.

“We are on top of these; we are expecting we should be able to resolve all these right-of-way issues in due time. But still, we’re expecting that we should be able to complete this project by 2029,” he said.

Remaining civil works contracts

Right-of-way issues also prevented the Department of Transportation’s (DOTr) from awarding the remaining civil works contract packages for the subway project last year.

Bautista said the agency targets awarding Contract Packages (CP) 105, 108, and 109 by the third quarter of 2024.

CP 1015 involves the underground stations in Kalayaan Avenue and Bonifacio Global City; CP 108 covers Lawton and Senate-DepEd stations; and CP 109 involves the construction of NAIA Terminal 3 station.

“Kailangan siguraduhin muna natin ‘yung right-of-way makuha, magiging problema natin kasi when we enter into a contract with a contractor, then may mga issues pa tayo sa right-of-way baka hindi makapagsimula on time,” Bautista said.

(We have to settle the right-of-way issue first because when we enter into a contract with a contractor and there are still issues, we might not be able to begin the construction on time.)

So far, the DOTr has awarded four contract packages for the project.

These are the CP 101, covering four stations—East Valenzuela, Quirino Highway, Tandang Sora, and North Avenue—and the depot and the Philippine Railway Institute Building, bagged by a joint venture led by EEI Corp.; the CP 102, comprising the stations in Quezon Avenue and East Avenue, bagged by D.M. Consunji Inc.; the CP 103, bagged by Sumitomo Mitsui Construction Co. Ltd., which involves the stations from Anonas to Camp Aguinaldo; and Megawide Construction Corp. was awarded the CP 104, which covers the Ortigas to Shaw Boulevard segment.

The Metro Manila Subway project involves the construction of a depot and a 33-kilometer railway line consisting of 17 stations that will connect Valenzuela City to Pasay City with a spur line to Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3.

Once operational, the subway is seen to reduce travel time from Valenzuela to NAIA from one hour and 30 minutes to just 35 minutes, servicing 519,000 passengers daily.

The project currently has an estimated total cost of P488.5 billion, of which P370.7 billion will be financed through an official development assistance (ODA) loan from JICA, while P117.7 billion will be covered by the Philippine government.

The Philippine government and JICA have so far signed two tranches of loan agreements—the first tranche amounting to ¥104.53 billion, or P47.58 billion, was signed in March 2018, while the second tranche, amounting to ¥253.31 billion, or P112.87 billion, was inked in February 2022.

The Philippines and Japan are expected to finalize this month the third tranche loan agreement worth ¥150 billion.  — VBL, GMA Integrated News