The Quezon City government has lifted the cease and desist order it had earlier issued on the construction of the Metro Rail Transit 7 (MRT-7) Quezon Memorial Circle (QMC) station Friday.

This comes after the QC government, and its stakeholders - - environmentalists, representatives from the National Housing Unit (NHA), engineers, residents, and others, have approved the new design of the station which was presented by the San Miguel Corp.(SMC) and EEI Corp.

"Today, we are very happy that we have succeeded not only in preserving our park, but at the same time, we have succeeded in ensuring that our people will have adequate mass transportation," QC Mayor Joy Belmonte said.

For Transport Secretary Arthur Tugade, this endeavor shows that when the national government, local government, and private sector collaborate, things will be solved and improved swiftly.

"What this exercise shows is that when the national government, local government, and the private sector work together and cooperate, all with the same obsession? all for transparency and development? things will be solved and improved swiftly," he said,

Meanwhile, DOTr Undersecretary for Railways Timothy John Batan expressed his utmost appreciation to the swift settlement of the issue.

From the initial design of 11,000 square meters above ground, it has been agreed that the latest and final design will just be a 426-square meter (sqm) above ground structure, with a height of only 6-7 meters.

For her part, San Miguel Corp. (SMC) MRT-7 Project Director Carmela Bergado has assured the local government, and the stakeholders that they "will follow the redesigned and final plan."

Batan assured that construction works for the MRT-7 project are on track, with partial operability to start by 2021, and full revenue service by 2022.

"Currently, we are almost 55% complete," Batan said.

Once completed by 2022, the MRT-7 will cut travel time from Manila to Bulacan from 2 hours to just 34 minutes. DMS