CALAMBA CITY, Laguna: President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. led the ceremonial signing of contracts for the Philippine National Railways’ South Commuter Railway project on Thursday morning, October 6, at the Jose Rizal Monument, The Plaza, Calamba City, Laguna.

The President or BBM was welcomed by Calamba City Mayor Roseller Rizal and other local officials, who were joined by Kim Inchul, South Korean ambassador to the Philippines; Ceren Nur Coskun, ad interim charge d’affaires of the Turkish Embassy in the Philippines; Ahmed Saeed, Asian Development Bank (ADB) vice president for East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific; and Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista.

It was announced in June 2022 that the ADB will finance the project for a total of $4.3 billion or P227.6 billion in loan financing.

The railway system will have 18 stations traversing 10 cities, namely Manila, Makati, Taguig, Parañaque, Muntinlupa, San Pedro, Biñan, Santa Rosa, Cabuyao and Calamba.

A connecting tunnel will also allow the operation of direct trains from Calamba to future Metro

Manila Subway System stations, further reducing travel time between Manila and Calamba from 2.5 hours to an hour.

The contract-signing was seen signifying the successful bid for the four different stages of the project, which will be supervised by joint venture agreements between companies from South Korea and Turkey.

The South Commuter Railway project is also seen further strengthening the Philippines’ economic recovery from the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic as it is expected to create more than 35,500 jobs during construction and over 3,200 permanent jobs during operation.