Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista on Thursday led the launching of the tunnel boring machine for the excavation of the North Avenue Station of the Metro Manila Subway Project (MMSP).

In a press briefing, Bautista said they are expecting tunnel boring machine 4 to finish tunneling up to Tandang Station within 12 months.

He added that the whole subway would be partially operational by around 2029.

“The expectation is that we will have partial operations maybe by 2028 from Valenzuela to Ortigas. But the section from Bicutan to Ortigas is scheduled to be completed by 2029,” Bautista said.

Project manager Mikee Mendoza said the P488-billion subway project is 40 percent complete.

“It corresponds to the design, right-of-way procurement, and construction,” Mendoza said.

She also mentioned that construction of the project was 11 percent finished.

Bautista said their progress on right-of-way acquisitions is 55 percent but they are facing some issues.

“There is one station that will affect a building owned by the Department of Education which is considered an important cultural property,” he said.

Bautista also said many homeowners are against the path of the subway because it will affect their properties.

Transportation Undersecretary for Railways Jeremy Regino said they will keep negotiating with homeowners and if needed, they would file petitions for expropriation in court.

Bautista assured the public that they would be able to address the right-of-way issues and finish the project on time.

“We are on top of these. We are expecting we should be able to resolve all these right-of-way issues in due time. But still, we’re expecting that we should be able to complete this project by 2029,” he said.

A representative of JICA said they have told the Department of Finance that they could provide an additional loan for the subway project and that they are set to sign the contract within this month.

Japan is funding five major railway projects including the MMSP, North-South Commuter Railway Project (and the first tranche of the Extension Project), MRT-3 Rehabilitation Project, LRT-1 Cavite Extension Project, and LRT-2 East Extension Project. Jaspearl Tan/DMS