By Robina Asido

Despite delays, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. expressed hope that the Japanese funded Metro Manila Subway project will be operationalized by 2028.

"I hope we will be able to finish this up to Valenzuela, maybe we can finish it by '28, maybe we can inaugurate it by 2028, let's see. Everyone agreed that there is a need to speed up the construction for the convenience of our commuters," Marcos told reporters in an interview during the inspection of the Metro Manila Subway Station in Camp Aguinaldo on Wednesday.

"I urge everyone to keep going and we look forward to the day when we can say that: 'we already experience riding the subway in the Philippine'. We have taken the tube to go to work," he added.

Marcos who was accompanied by Dizon, Ambassador Endo Kazuya of the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines and Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. during the inspection also expressed how he was impressed by the work of the Japanese engineers in the project.

"It's very impressive. It's really impressive, if were going to look at the engineering that they brought here but the Japanese do that, the best I think in the whole world. It is recognized that the Japanese are the one of the top when it comes to heavy engineering and construction projects such as this," he said.

"That is why I think we have picked the right partner and I am very happy to see the progress that’s being made," he added.

In an interview with Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon last March, he admitted that due to delays, the earliest possible opening of the partial operation of the first subway in the Philippines was moved to 2032.

"For the subway, there were a lot of delays there... The delay is big and I am not the kind of person who will promise something that will not happen. I think it cannot start its operation by 2028. Maybe the earliest for the partial operation is by 2032 but we really need to speed it up," he said in a radio interview weeks after his appointment as secretary of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) on Feb. 21.

Dizon noted that the delays were caused by many issues including delays between DOTr engineers, contractors and others. DMS