The entire Metro Manila Subway Project (MMSP), supposedly the country’s first underground train line, will not be operational within the term of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., but the Department of Transportation (DOTr) has committed to complete at least three stations by 2028. 

“The whole line will be operational in 2032, that is our target. But we want to finish at least two to three stations by 2028 and that is starting from Valenzuela, Quirino and hopefully even North,” Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon told reporters in a chance interview on Wednesday.

“We want to do the partial ops but we are discussing that with the Japanese,” Dizon added.

On Wednesday morning, Dizon and Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto inspected the Ortigas Station, which remains the subway’s only major right-of-way hurdle.

“Well, the Ortigas station will definitely not be finished by 2028. We never promised that,” Dizon said.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. earlier said he wanted the subway’s first three stations to be operational before his term ends.

The 33-kilometer MMSP will run from Valenzuela City to Pasay City, with a spur line to Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3. It will have 17 stations and a 30.34-hectare depot in Valenzuela, which will also house the Philippine Railway Institute.

The stations are: 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.