The Department of Transportation will deliver all its promised projects before the end of President Rodrigo Duterte’s term in 2022, Assistant Secretary for Planning and Project Development Giovanni Lopez said Wednesday.
Interviewed on Dobol B sa News TV, Lopez said the partial operations of the Metro Manila Subway project and the commercial operations of the Metro Rail Transit System Line 7 (MRT7) are still on track by the end of 2021.
“‘Yong common station, pinupukpok din. Matapos na rin sana partial operability ng 2021,” he added.
Lopez said construction activities have been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic but workers are now catching up with the targets.
“Ito po ay mga big ticket projects na kahit naantala kahit papaano ng kaunti, ang ginawa is dire-diretso lang ang trabaho. ‘Di gagawing rason ang pandemiya para matigil, maantala pa lalo ang ating mga proyekto,” he said.
“Basta makakaasa po sila sa DOTr at kay [Secretary Arthur Tugade] na he will deliver what he promised,” Lopez added.
For the subway project, Lopez said the tunnel boring machines are expected to arrive in the country by January 2021.
Earlier, Tugade said the full operation of the subway project, dubbed the Philippines’ “Project of the Century,” was set for 2024 or 2025.
He 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.
Meanwhile, the P69.30-billion MRT7 project covers the development of a 23-kilometer railway system with 13 stations linking North Avenue, Quezon City to San Jose del Monte, Bulacan with 14 stations in about 34 minutes.
Lopez said it is expected to begin partial operations in December 2020.
The DOTr, along with private concessionaire Universal LRT Corp. BVI Limited, broke ground for the project in April 2016.
As a public-private partnership project, the 25-year concession agreement also entails the development of an integrated system including a 22-kilometer highway from the North Luzon Expressway Bocaue Interchange and an intermodal transport terminal next to the San Jose del Monte Station.
Once operational, the line is expected to ferry between 300,000 to 850,000 passengers per day, with room for capacity expansion to accommodate future increases in ridership. It will be connected to LRT-1, MRT-3, and the Metro Manila Subway at the Common Station in North Avenue. — BM, GMA News
