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Aug 27, 2023

State corporation eyed to run Metro Manila subway

Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista and other officials at the

Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista and other officials at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Metro Manila Subway Project on Friday, April 28, 2023. (Photo from the Department of Transportation)

MANILA, Philippines — With the construction of the country's first subway underway, House deputy minority leader Rep. Bernadette Herrera is pushing for the creation of an agency that will oversee the implementation of the Metro Manila subway project.

House Bill No. 8509 proposed the establishment of the Greater Capital Region (GCR) Subway Corp. to oversee the construction, operation, maintenance, and lease of subway rail transit systems.

Herrera noted that while the P488.4 billion cost of the subway project was "indeed considerable and significant," this would be "certainly outweighed by the convenience the subway system is expected to provide to the general public."

"To ensure that the project's purpose is fully realized, it is imperative to provide an organizational structure that will oversee the effective implementation of the Metro Manila Subway project, including the construction and operation thereof," she said in the bill's explanatory note.

In a statement, Herrera added that the "corporate structure and legal framework needed to manage the subway and future subways must also be built now" while construction is still underway.

"We want to make sure the GCR Subway Corp. will be up and running before the subway is ready to operate," Herrera said.

The tunnel works for the first contract package of the 33-kilometer subway project began last January.

The subway project is expected to be operational by 2028 and will have 17 stations connecting Valenzuela City to Pasay City.

Under HB 8509, the GCR Subway Corp. will have general and specific corporate powers and authority to incur domestic and foreign debts.

The bill set the foreign debt authorization at P300 billion of total outstanding debt, excluding interest. It also set the initial authorized capital of the GCR Subway Corp. at P 300 billion.

The GCR Subway Corp. will have a board of directors with the transportation secretary as chairperson.

The management will be vested in an administrator, who will be assisted by two deputy administrators. All three officials will be appointed by the President.

The bill also provided for a tax exemption on the "importation of equipment, machineries, spare parts, accessories and other materials, including supplies and services, used directly in the operations of the Metro Manila Subway system, not obtainable locally on favorable terms, out of any funds of the authority, and proceeds from foreign loans, credits or indebtedness."

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