Some good news in the midst of this ongoing fuel crisis: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered the release of P44.17 billion to the Department of Transportation to expedite the Metro Manila Subway Project (MMSP) Phase 1 and the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) System.
The budget will be taken from the Unprogrammed Appropriations under the 2026 General Appropriations Act. Specifically, it will come from the Support to Foreign-Assisted Projects (SFAPs). P21.28 billion will be for the NSCR System and MMSP Phase 1 that financed through the Japan International Cooperation Agency. The other P22.88 billion, meanwhile, will be for the NSCR System under its loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank.
“These are projects that Filipinos have waited decades for,” said Department of Budget and Management acting secretary Rolando Toledo. “We are making sure that funding is not the bottleneck—so these projects can move faster and deliver real relief to commuters.”
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The government, however, has yet to provide an adjusted timeline following the order to expedite these projects. Rest assured, we’ll keep you posted once we get more details.
In any case, these are two of the biggest ongoing railway projects, and when completed, they will be a big boost to the public transport system. Now more than ever, alternative modes of transport are needed as fuel prices continue to soar. While we hope that the crisis won’t last long enough to see these projects materialize, at this point, we’re just happy to take all the good news we can get.
