Manila, Philippines – A mothballed project linking Metro Manila’s three elevated railways will finally get a makeover after the economic team of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. cleared the last legal hurdle to awarding the contract to new concessionaires.
In a statement released on Friday, March 20, the Economy and Development Council (ED Council) said it greenlit the “termination of the existing Investment Coordination Committee approval of the Unified Grand Central Station (UGCS) Project.”
That investment committee is one of the layers in screening multibillion infrastructure projects, and the ED Council’s decision comes nearly a year after the implementing agency – the Department of Transportation – issued a notice of termination of the contract with the former proponent BF Corporation and Foresight Development and Surveying Company (BFC-FDSC) Consortium.
“[D]evelopment will continue through separate implementation arrangements,” read the ED Council statement, which was released a day after its March 19 meeting with Marcos.
“These include the engagement of step-in contractors and other mechanisms to complete the remaining works needed to support station operations,” it added.
The common station project was envisioned to link the Light-Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1, Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3, and MRT Line 7, to facilitate seamless passenger transfer to road-based transport systems.
First awarded in 2019 to BF Corporation, the contract has been hounded by delays and the COVID-19 lockdown.
“This action is necessary to formally close the current project approval following the termination of the design-and-build contract and the determination that completion under the same contractual arrangement is no longer feasible,” the ED Council said in its statement.
The economic team’s decision ties up the project’s loose ends.
“The decision will also facilitate the orderly contract close-out, address pending obligations, and allow the transition to an alternative delivery approach that can help reduce further delays and advance the completion of the remaining project components,” it added.
The government’s infrastructure flagship projects consist of 201 priority infrastructure projects valued at ₱9.970 trillion combined. Three projects were newly added to the list: The Liloan Bridge Construction Project, Farm-to-Market Bridges Development Program, and Accelerated Water and Sanitation Project in Selected Areas.
“The Marcos administration continues to pursue targeted actions across sectors to drive inclusive and sustained economic growth,” economic minister and EDC vice-chairman Arsenio Balisacan said in a statement.
