President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. expressed hope on Wednesday the long-awaited Metro Manila Subway Project (MMSP) will be completed by 2028, saying it is finally on track to ease the traffic woes and transform the daily grind of commuters.

Speaking during his visit to the Camp Aguinaldo Station drilling site, Marcos highlighted the massive impact the project will have once it is operational, particularly in slashing travel time across the metro.

“I hope we can dig through Valenzuela and finish it by 2028 so we can inaugurate it. Let’s see,” he said.

The President noted the subway would reduce the typical two-hour commute to 40 minutes for the more than half-million expected daily passengers.

He underscored the urgency of speeding up the construction. “We want to give commuters a more comfortable and convenient travel experience sooner rather than later,” he said.

Impressive Japanese engineering

Marcos took a moment to marvel at the subway engineering — a joint project with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) — saying the advanced technology spoke volumes about Japan’s world-class expertise in infrastructure.

“Impressive, it truly is impressive. If you look at it, you would think of how big is the engineering that they brought here,” he said.

“But the Japanese do that — the best I think in the whole world. It is recognized that the Japanese are one of the top when it comes to heavy engineering and construction projects such as this one,” he added.

He said the Philippines chose the right partner for the job — not just for the technology, but for the knowledge being shared with local workers and engineers.

“They’re not only here, they are also teaching our engineers. If you can see inside, there is only one, maybe two Japanese supervisors and the rest of the workers are Filipinos,” Marcos said.

“Once again, I am not surprised because Filipinos can do it if they are taught well.”

A strong partnership

Marcos acknowledged Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Endo Kazuya, who was present during the visit, for his close involvement in the project.

“The Aambassador of Japan is here and he is in charge of making sure the work is done well, and I can say that the work they are doing is very good,” he said.

Subway features

Once completed, the Metro Manila Subway will have 17 stations running 33 kilometers from Pasay City to Valenzuela City, with a spur line leading directly to NAIA Terminal 3. A 30.34-hectare depot will house the Philippine Railway Institute, envisioned for training the next generation of rail workers.

The 17 stations are East Valenzuela, 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.

With over 500,000 commuters projected to use the subway daily, the MMSP marks a major leap forward in solving Metro Manila’s decades-old traffic woes.