By Robina Asido

Only two to four stations of the Metro Manila Subway will be operationalized by 2028, Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon said noting that the target partial operation announced by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is "very, very challenging".

"Ortigas Station definitely will not be completed by 2028, most likely by 2030 or 2031 but we accept the challenge of the President. Hopefully by 2028 we will able to run Valenzuela, Quirino and we will try our best up to North Avenue (stations)," Dizon told reporters in an interview during the inspection of the Ortigas Station of the Metro Manila Subway in Pasig City on Tuesday.

He said the construction of the underground railway is around 28 percent completed. Dizon added that only three contracts for the stations of FTI, Taguig and NAIA of the subway were not yet awarded.

The construction of the Metro Manila Subway was delayed by at least five yeasr as it was supposed to be completed by 2027, the new target date for the completion of the project was moved to 2032.

The subway project, funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency, costs P355.6 billion. It has 17 subway stations.

"Two tunnel boring machines from Aguinaldo station are on their way here, it is now under the White Plains moving at the rate of about 5 to 7 meters per day and were expecting the tunnel boring machine to reach Ortigas (Station) by the end of 2026,'' he added.

During the inspection with the officials of the local government of Pasig City led by Mayor Vico Sotto, other government representatives and private contractors, Dizon announced that the construction of Ortigas Station will start in the next few weeks as its problem related to the right of way is expected to be resolved next week.

"We are here today to inspect the last remaining major right of way issue for the Metro Manila Subway if you recall when we came in, in March there were five problems we already address four of them, this is the last problem left, but now with everyone here with the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) here, Congresswoman Richelle Singson, everyone is here to work together to make this finally happen," he said.

"We all gather together here to find a solution, hopefully within the next few week we will start construction already, finally after three years since the ground breaking," he added.

Dizon said Ortigas is the biggest and most important station of the country's first subway funded by the Japanese government.

"It is the most important station of the entire system because of the location and the volume of riding passengers and there will also be a turn back here that is why this Ortigas station is critical," he said.

"This subway is a game changer and there will be two stations here in Pasig, this is one station which is one of the biggest stations of the entire system and we have another station in Shaw Boulevard at Capital Common, two major stations in Pasig," he added.

Sotto said the local government will announce rerouting schemes once the construction of the Ortigas station starts.

"The only solution to traffic, the only way to a better mobility is through mass transport, it is at least part of the solution. That is why we in the (local government) LGU we are doing our best to help, if there is delay at least it is not because of us," he said. DMS