VERA Files
The Bureau of Communications Services (BCS), an attached agency of the Presidential Communications Office, said in a Facebook post that the EDSA Greenways “is one of the projects of the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.” This needs context.
STATEMENT
In a May 27 Facebook post, the BCS, which is responsible for communicating the president’s priorities and accomplishments through various platforms such as publications and special events, said:
“Ngayong Road Safety Month, alamin natin kung ano ang EDSA Greenways Project, isa sa mga proyekto ng administrasyong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. na naglalayong mapabuti ang sitwasyon ng mga pedestrians at commuters sa Kamaynilaan.”
(This Road Safety Month, let us find out about the EDSA Greenways Project, one of the projects of the administration of Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. that aims to improve the situation of pedestrians and commuters in Manila.)
Source: Bureau of Communications Services official Facebook page, Alam mo bang kinikilala ang buwan ng Mayo bilang Road Safety Month sa bansa? (archive), May 27, 2023
FACT
The EDSA Greenways Project was conceptualized in 2017 under the Duterte administration. The five-kilometer elevated walkway, estimated to cost US$179.3 million (P10.09 billion), was intended to promote the use of public transportation and improve pedestrian facilities around four train stations along EDSA that were “poorly designed, uncomfortable, and unsafe,” according to documents in the Asian Development Bank (ADB) website.
In January 2020, the National Economic Development Authority Board approved the EDSA Greenways Project under the Build, Build, Build (BBB) program of then-president Rodrigo Duterte.
The ADB would provide the bulk of the project cost through a US$123 million loan (P6.92 billion, based on exchange rate of US$1.00 to P56.26, May 31), while an additional US$15 million (P843.90 million) loan would come from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Infrastructure Fund. The government will shoulder the remaining US$41.3 million (P2.32 billion) for expenses such as land acquisition and resettlement.
According to the ADB, the Greenways Project will build or improve 5 kilometers of covered, elevated walkways, including replacement or widening of existing footbridges and inclusion of elevators, that will be linked to train stations in Balintawak, Cubao, Guadalupe and Taft Avenue.
The Transportation department, which will implement the project, expects to finish the project by 2027. It was previously projected for completion by February 2023.
Construction has yet to begin three years after the loans were granted. The total project cost was at P8.51 billion when the NEDA Board approved it in January 2020. It has now ballooned to P10.09 billion due to currency fluctuations.
A similar proposal in 2016 under the so-called “Metro Manila Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)” provided for greenways along a 48.6 kilometer-long bus route on EDSA. However, this was shelved by the Transportation department, saying “it may not be the most appropriate mode for narrow and congested roads.”
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Sources
Bureau of Communications Services official Facebook page, Alam mo bang kinikilala ang buwan ng Mayo bilang Road Safety Month sa bansa? (archive), May 27, 2023
Asian Development Bank official website, Philippines: Epifanio de los Santos Avenue Greenways Project, accessed May 29, 2023
Asian Development Bank official website, Proposed Loan Philippines: Metro Manila Transport Project, Phase 1, November 2017
Asian Development Bank official website, Republic of the Philippines: Epifanio de los Santos Avenue Greenways Project, accessed May 29, 2023
Asian Development Bank official website, $123 Million ADB Loan to Help Build Elevated Walkways in Manila, Dec. 14, 2020
National Economic and Development Authority official website, NEDA BOARD APPROVES MRT 4, EDSA GREENWAYS, AND 6 OTHER PROJECTS, Jan. 29, 2020
Department of Transportation official website OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR ROAD TRANSPORT & INFRASTRUCTURE, accessed May 29, 2023
Department of Transportation official Facebook page, PRIORITIZING PEDESTRIAN SAFETY , May 24, 2023
National Economic and Development Authority official website, ICC-CABCOM ENDORSES 10 PROJECTS FOR NEDA BOARD ACTION, Aug. 4, 2016
National Economic and Development Authority official website, INFRASTRUCTURE FLAGSHIP PROJECTS AS OF JULY 27, 2018, accessed May 29, 2023
World Bank official website, Metro Manila BRT Line 1 Project (P132401), accessed May 29, 2023
