Awarding of remaining contracts for Metro Manila Subway eyed mid-2025

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) is set to award the remaining civil works contract packages for the Metro Manila Subway Project (MMSP) by mid-2025.

The still unawarded contracts for the MMSP are Contract Packages (CP) 105, 108, and 109. Each contract is estimated to cost about P10 billion to P15 billion.

CP 105 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.

"The contract packages, 105, 108, 109… We hope to award that by the middle of this year," DOTr Undersecretary for Railways Jeremy Regino told reporters at the sidelines of the tunnel boring installation ceremony of the MMSP's Camp Aguinaldo Station on Thursday.

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.;
• CP 102, comprising the stations in Quezon Avenue and East Avenue, bagged by D.M. Consunji Inc.;
• CP 103, bagged by Sumitomo Mitsui Construction Co. Ltd., involves the stations from Anonas to Camp Aguinaldo; and
• CP 104, which covers the Ortigas to Shaw Boulevard segment, awarded to Megawide Construction Corp.

Regino said the overall progress rate of the MMSP is now at "more than 50%."

That means the procurement timelines, the design, and construction… it's more than 50%," he said.

The DOTr is aiming to open the MMSP for partial operations covering the Valenzuela to Ortigas stations by the end of 2029.

"For full operations, the target is 2030 to 2031," Regino said.

Going deeper

The DOTr official said right-of-way issues continue to hound the progress of the MMSP.

READ: Metro Manila Subway: When Right of Way Gets in the Way

"Because of right-of-way [issues]… we will be going deeper to as low as 47 meters [underground]," Regino said.

The DOTr official said making the subway deeper was also meant to "assuage the fears" of property owners that will be affected by the project's alignment.

"Of course, the principal consideration in going deeper is the environmental condition or the terrain… If the terrain demands or requires us to go deeper for safety and technical considerations, that is the reason why we are going deeper," he said.

Upon completion, the MMSP will have a total of 17 stations and a 30.34-hectare depot where the Philippine Railway Institute is located.

The project involves the construction of 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 completed, travel time will be reduced from one hour and 38 minutes to just 45 minutes from Valenzuela to Pasay with expected ridership at more than half a million passengers daily," Regino said.

The MMSP's 17 stations are: Valenzuela where the depot will be located, Quirino Highway, Tandang Sora, North Avenue, Quezon Avenue, East Avenue, Anonas, Katipunan (Camp Aguinaldo), Ortigas Avenue, Shaw Boulevard, Kalayaan Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Lawton East, Senate-DepEd, NAIA Terminal 3, FTI, and Bicutan.

The MMSP is envisioned to be interconnected with other rail systems: the Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT1), the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT3), and the Metro Rail Transit-Line 7 (MRT7) through the Common Station; the Light Rail Transit-Line 2 (LRT2) at the Anonas Station; and a physical run through into the North-South Commuter Railway Extension (NSCR-Ex) at the FTI and Bicutan Stations.

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 the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Meanwhile, P117.7 billion will be covered by the Philippine government.

The Philippine government and JICA have so far signed three tranches of loan agreements—the first tranche amounting to ¥104.53 billion, or P47.58 billion, was signed in March 2018; the second tranche, amounting to ¥253.31 billion, or P112.87 billion, was inked in February 2022; and the third ¥150-billion or P55.37 billion loan deal for the project was signed in March 2024.

— VDV, GMA Integrated News