The company that was cued to build the P200-billion Makati Subway, derailed due to the territorial dispute with Taguig City, is working at “reinventing” the project since an underground train is no longer viable, according to Makati Mayor Abigail Binay. Binay, in a roundtable talk with Inquirer editors and staff on Thursday, said City Hall’s joint venture (JV) partner Philippine InfraDev Holdings Inc. would be submitting a new plan for the subway project.

The mayor said she did not want to “preempt” future announcements on what kind of a project Philippine InfraDev would put forward.

“There are ongoing talks on how to still proceed with the JV venture without it being a subway,” she said. “I don’t know if they (Philippine InfraDev) will come up with a statement soon regarding that venture.”The challenge arose following the implementation of a Supreme Court decision issued in 2021, which declares that the 10 “embo”—enlisted men’s barrios—and barangays in Makati be transferred to Taguig, basing on historical, documentary and testimonial evidence.

These are Pembo, Comembo, Cembo, South Cembo, West Rembo, East Rembo, Pitogo, Rizal, Post Proper Northside and Post Proper Southside.

The existing 11-kilometer subway plan, Binay said, was rendered no longer feasible in terms of the logistics as half of the 10 stations are in areas now ceded to Taguig’s jurisdiction. The local executive explained that this also meant half of the alignment was also affected.Binay added that a shorter railway was also not economically viable because of the smaller passenger volume it could accommodate. The original plan sought to serve about 700,000 riders per day.

Asked if the Makati government was open to working with Taguig for the project, Binay said it might be difficult given the current territorial row.

She said that the national government also did not express intent to take over the project after Philippine InfraDev announced in September last year its struggle with the project.

“They (national government) have too much in their plate,” Binay said.

In a disclosure filed in September 2023, Philippine InfraDev said the “alignment of the subway will be no longer feasible” as the train depot and some stations faced right-of-way issues. INQ