DOTR CHIEF: JAPAN-FUNDED TRANSPORT PROJECTS ‘ON TRACK’

CTTO

SEVERAL Japanese-funded big-ticket transportation projects are “on track,” Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Jaime Bautista on Friday assured Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

According to Bautista, a total of nine big-ticket projects are funded on the back of 1.315 trillion yen worth of Japanese aid, which include five railway, two aviation, and two maritime projects.

“(Kishida) would be happy to know that the Philippine side has lived up to its commitments, that despite challenges, we are on track to what we have committed to deliver,” he said.

The five railway projects are the LRT Line 1 Cavite Extension, LRT Line 2 East Extension, MRT Line 3 rehabilitation and maintenance, the North-South Commuter Rail System, and the Metro Manila Subway Project (MMSP).

The DoTr chief thanked Kishida for Japan’s help in developing the country’s railway sector.

“With 150 years of experience in rail development, with 30,000 km. of rail, with 25 billion riders a year, there are no better senseis than these kind, compassionate, generous, hardworking and honest people,” Bautista said.

The Transportation chief added that Japan has long been supporting the Philippines’ ambitious rail expansion.

Bautista said that when Kishida was still Japan’s foreign affairs minister in 2017, he was already “a backer of our country’s drive to modernize our transportation system.”

“To us, Prime Minister Kishida has always been a member of the Philippine railways team. He’s all aboard,” Bautista said.

Kishida is scheduled to visit the subway project depot and its train simulator room located in Valenzuela City on Saturday, November 4.

Civil works are ongoing for the 36-kilometer Metro Manila Subway Project.

With 17 stations, the project is set to reduce travel time between Valenzuela City and Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 from one hour and 30 minutes to 35 minutes

Kishida arrived in the Philippines on Friday for a two-day official visit to boost defense, security, and economic cooperation between the two countries.