DOTr and LRTA Breaks Ground for LRT2 East Extension Project- Package 2

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Travel time from Recto to Masinag will soon be reduced to 40 minutes compared to the usual travel of up to 3 hours in the same route by bus or jeepneys.

On May 30, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) headed by Secretary Arthur P. Tugade and Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) Administrator Gen. Reynaldo I. Berroya led the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the Masinag and Emerald stations of the LRT-2 East Extension Project. The ceremony was held at the center island of the proposed Masinag station at Brgy. Mayamot, Antipolo City, infront of SM Masinag.

“It will be a timely addition to have both new stations in the LRT Line 2 as we acknowledge the need for greater accessibility of passengers coming from the eastern side of Metro Manila, extending to key areas of Antipolo and its nearby cities,” DOTr Secretary Arthur P. Tugade stressed.

“This increased capacity of 80,000 daily ridership of the rail line will not only provide a means to decongest our roads, but more importantly offer better riding options to our daily commuters. As we improve the public’s general mobility, we also unburden them from traffic worries,” Sec. Tugade added.

The additional two stations are designed to accommodate an additional 80,000 passengers daily during its first 5 years of operation, which will add to the current LRT 2 average daily ridership of 240,000.

Representatives from the provincial government of Rizal and cities of Antipolo, Pasig and Marikina also attended the event.

According to LRTA Administrator Berroya, the LRT2 East Extension Project is a proof that the government takes solving traffic woes seriously.

“The completion of the LRT Line 2 East Extension Project is part of the fulfillment of the government’s promise to ease traffic congestion by extending the service of the LRT Line 2 System to the eastern part of Metro Manila,” he said.

The LRT-2 East Extension Project involves the construction of a 4.0 kilometer extension of the existing LRT-2 System from Santolan, Pasig City to Masinag in Antipolo. Rizal. Two (2) additional stations will be built namely the Emerald station which will be located infront of Robinsons Metro East and Sta. Lucia in Cainta, Rizal and Masinag station which will be located before the Masinag Junction in Antipolo City.

The D.M Consunji Inc (DMCI) bagged the contract for the 2 stations which is set to start construction works on 6 June 2017 and targets completion in August 2018.

Secretary Tugade also asked for the public’s understanding as the construction phase of the project would affect the traffic flow in the area. A Traffic Management Plan (TMP) was released by the Department of Transportation (DOTr) detailing the list of alternative routes motorists may use to avoid the construction site. This can be found on the official social media accounts of DOTr, LRTA and its other partner agencies.

The LRT- 2 East Extension Project is set to be operational in the first quarter of 2019.

Oceana Partners with Stakeholders to Champion Benham Rise

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Together with its allies in the government and private sector, Oceana Philippines is urgently pushing for the legal protection of Benham Rise (renamed recently as Philippine Rise) as a marine protected area including the declaration of Benham Bank, the shallowest portion of Benham Rise, as a no-take zone, where human activity is not allowed.

In a policy dialogue called “Bayanihan Para sa Benham” hosted by Oceana and graced by representatives from various government agencies and other stakeholders, Director Mundita Lim of the Biodiversity Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources shared that Benham Rise was designated as an Ecologically and Biologically Significant Marine Area (EBSA) by 196 countries during the 13th Meeting of the Convention of Parties (COP) to the Convention of Biological Diversity in Mexico in December 2016.

EBSAs are said to be “geographically or oceanographically discrete areas that provide important services to one or more species or populations of an ecosystem or to the ecosystem as a whole, compared to other surrounding areas or areas of similar ecological characteristics, or otherwise meet the following scientific criteria: Uniqueness or rarity, Special importance for life history stages of species, Importance for threatened, endangered or declining species and / or habitats, Vulnerability, fragility, sensitivity or slow recovery, Biological productivity, Biological diversity and Naturalness.” Benham Rise scored high in four of the seven criteria, a global recognition of its importance, and of being pristine and unique.

The COP Decision described Benham Rise as “relatively pristine … of critical ecological importance, including for offshore mesophotic coral reef biodiversity and for the sustainability of fisheries.” It added that “aside from being an important source of biodiversity and contributing to the resiliency of threatened ecosystems,” Benham Rise was also cited as “forming part of the only known spawning area of the Pacific blue fin tuna, Thunnus orientalis.” Other world famous EBSAs include the famed Galapagos Islands in Ecuador and the Rajah Ampat Park in Indonesia.

“We need to conduct more research on Benham Rise to know exactly what there is to protect,” explained BMB Director Mundita Lim.

Tugade Leads Groundbreaking of LRT East Extension Project

Wazzup Pilipinas!

“Life must go on”.

This was how Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Arthur P. Tugade described the administration’s eagerness to pursue projects and initiatives that could move the economic development of the country, despite the ongoing situation in Marawi City.

In a speech during the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the Masinag and Emerald stations of the LRT-2 East Extension Project on Tuesday morning, Secretary Tugade took the said rail line extension project as an example of how the government is taking its infrastructure commitments seriously, while also equally attending to other significant state concerns.

“Kahit may sigalot sa Marawi, life must go on. This should not deter us from pushing for our economy to grow and prosper,” Secretary Tugade stressed.



A little inconvenience in construction

Secretary Tugade also appealed for patience and understanding from the commuting public while the two new stations are being constructed. He mentioned that the construction may cause traffic congestion in the affected areas.

“This will cause a bit of inconvenience. The construction will cause a bit of traffic but we should get this done. Panandaliang hirap pero ang kapalit ay pangmatagalang ginhawa,” he quipped.

The LRT-2 East Extension Project involves the construction of a 4.0 kilometer extension of the existing LRT-2 System from Santolan, Pasig City to Masinag in Antipolo. Rizal. Two (2) additional stations will be built: (a) the Emerald station, which will be located in front of Robinsons Metro East and Sta. Lucia in Cainta, Rizal; and (b) the Masinag station, which will be located before the Masinag Junction in Antipolo City. These stations are expected to accommodate 80,000 passengers/day.

Once completed, the extended line is expected to significantly cut the commuting time from Masinag in Antipolo to Claro M. Recto in the city of Manila by 30 to 40 minutes from an average of 3 hours of driving on the road.

The construction of stations is set to be finished in August 2018.


Noble project

Rizal Governor Rebecca Ynares describes the new additional stations in the LRT Line 2 as a “noble project” as she expressed her gratitude to the administration for making this long-desired plan of their province possible.

“In behalf of the people of the province of Rizal, I would like to thank the administration of President Duterte for bringing this noble project in the province of Rizal. For quite a long time, traffic has always been a problem of our province. Kaya sobrang-sobra ang aming kagalakan at pasasalamat… na magkaroon ng katuparan ang matagal na naming hinahangad sa lalawigan ng Rizal,” Governor Ynares said.

Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Mark A. Villar, on the other hand, lauded his “partner” Secretary Tugade and the DOTr for the successive constructions that the department is doing.

“Bilib na bilib po ako kay Sec Art dahil sunod-sunod po ang kanyang mga openings. Eto at kakatapos lang po ng opening dun po sa LRT 1. Ramdam na ramdam po ang presence ng DOTr,” Secretary Villar said.

Aside from Secretaries Tugade and Villar, and Governor Ynares, the groundbreaking ceremony was also attended by Light Railway Transit Authority (LRTA) Administrator Gen. Reynaldo I. Berroya (Ret.), Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Gen. Danilo D. Lim (Ret.), Light Rail Manila Corporation (LRMC) President Rogelio L. Singson, Antipolo City Administrator Mr. Robert Nacianceno, Senior Vice President of DM Consunji inc. (DMCI) Mr. David Villaviray, officers of DMCI, and representatives from the cities of Marikina, Antipolo, Cainta and Pasig.