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The Philippines and Japan signed a JPY253.3 billion (P112.9 billion) loan agreement to fund construction of the first phase of the Metro Manila Subway Project
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Coursed through the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the loan is payable in 27 years with a grace period of 13 years, for a total maturity period of 40 years
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The loan will be used to construct stations, underground tunnels between stations, a depot and other public works
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Japan’s tunnel boring machines will start excavations in the second quarter of this year
The Philippines and Japan signed on February 10 a JPY253.3 billion (P112.9 billion) loan agreement to fund construction of the first phase of the Metro Manila Subway Project (MMSP).
The Department of Finance (DOF) in a statement said the loan, coursed through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), is payable in 27 years with a grace period of 13 years, for a total maturity period of 40 years.
This is the second tranche funding for MMSP Phase 1. The first tranche worth JPY104.53 billion (about P47.58 billion or US$933.73 million) was signed in March 2018, also with a 40-year total maturity period.
READ: PH signs $935M loan with Japan for 1st phase of MM subway
The loan will be used to construct stations, underground tunnels between stations, a depot and other public works. It will also be used to procure rail systems and rolling stocks and consulting services, JICA said in a separate statement.
DOF said JICA will release funds for the remaining three to four tranches of the total loan based on project requirements and subject to further discussions.
The National Economic and Development Authority in September 2021 revised upward the MMSP cost to P488.48 billion or JPY1.08 trillion from the original cost of P350 billion.
The MMSP is the first underground railway system in the country that will provide the most modern mass transportation in the National Capital Region. It will stretch from Valenzuela City to Food Terminal Inc. (FTI), Parañaque and Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 in Pasay, and will further extend across the north and south zones of the Greater Capital Region.
The 36-kilometer subway project aims to ease traffic congestion, meet fast rising transport demand, and reduce air pollution in the country’s premier urban center. The 17-station subway will reduce travel time between Quezon City and NAIA from the current 70 minutes to only 35 minutes.
The 25.3-km first phase of the MMSP will be constructed using cutting-edge Japanese tunneling technology and will stretch from Mindanao Avenue in Quezon City to FTI in Taguig, before continuing on to NAIA.
Japanese Ambassador Koshikawa Kazuhiko, who attended the signing, said Japan’s tunnel boring machines will start excavations in the second quarter of this year.
READ: All parts of 2 subway tunnel boring machines now onsite
Early in 2021, the Department of Transportation took delivery of two of the project’s 25 tunnel boring machines.
