Makati’s dream of a gleaming subway system, once hailed as “historic” and Mayor Abby Binay’s self-proclaimed “crowning glory,” lies in ruins—buried under billions in losses, jurisdictional squabbles, and political posturing. What was meant to be the Philippines’ first subway, a 10-kilometer lifeline for 700,000 daily commuters, has instead become a cautionary tale of ambition undone by ego, mismanagement, and a failure of leadership. As Binay exits her final term in 2025 to chase a Senate seat, the shelved Makati City Subway Project stands as a grim legacy, not of progress, but of wasted potential.

Announced with fanfare in 2018, the project promised to transform Makati’s financial district with 10 underground stations, 18 trains, and seamless links to ferries, MRT-3, and the Metro Manila Subway. It was a bold vision: 27,000 commuters per hour whisked through the Central Business District, past Makati City Hall, Rockwell, and Little Tokyo, all while generating 6,000 jobs. The local government, led by Binay, partnered with Philippine Infradev Holdings Incorporated, which poured $3.5 billion into land acquisitions, equipment, and construction contracts with Chinese firms. Makati itself claimed it would spend nothing, leaving Infradev to shoulder the financial burden.

Yet, the project was plagued by red flags from the start. Infradev’s former head, Antonio Tiu, faced accusations of being a Binay family front, raising questions about the project’s transparency. The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic caused delays, but the fatal blow came in 2023, when the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Taguig-Makati land dispute reassigned Fort Bonifacio and the EMBO barangays—including key subway stations at the University of Makati and Ospital ng Makati—to Taguig. Infradev deemed the project “no longer feasible,” citing the loss of its depot and critical stations. Binay herself admitted in 2024 that truncating the line would render it “economically unviable,” effectively washing her hands of the mess.

Now, Infradev is dragging the Makati LGU to arbitration in Singapore, seeking resolution for a joint venture agreement rendered obsolete by the court’s decision. The financial toll is staggering: P44 billion in losses, including P39 billion in properties now under Taguig’s jurisdiction and P5 billion in development costs. Landowners who sold their properties for P1.18 billion, lured by million-peso signing bonuses, are left with little recourse. The tunnel boring machine, delivered with much pomp in 2021, sits idle—a rusting symbol of failure.

This is more than a logistical or jurisdictional failure; it’s a political one. The Taguig-Makati dispute, fueled by the Cayetano and Binay dynasties, reeks of ego-driven territorialism. Both families, entrenched in their respective fiefdoms, have prioritized power plays over public welfare. The Supreme Court’s ruling may have clarified boundaries, but it exposed a deeper truth: local governments, left to their own devices, can’t resolve conflicts that demand national intervention. The subway’s collapse isn’t just a loss for Makati or Taguig—it’s a betrayal of every commuter, worker, and taxpayer who believed in the promise of progress.
Where was the national government while this fiasco unfolded? The Department of Transportation, which oversees the Metro Manila Subway, should have stepped in to mediate, ensuring the project’s alignment with broader infrastructure goals. Instead, silence prevailed, leaving Infradev and Makati to flounder. The result is a fractured metropolis, where political vendettas and dynastic rivalries hold urban development hostage.

Binay’s pivot to the Senate race only deepens the cynicism. Her “crowning glory” now a costly embarrassment, she leaves Makati to grapple with the fallout while chasing higher office. The subway’s failure underscores a painful reality: public servants too often serve themselves, their legacies built on rhetoric rather than results. The people of Makati and Taguig deserve better than this zero-sum game of pride and politics. They deserve a government—local and national—that puts commuters over clout, solutions over squabbles. Until that happens, the Makati Subway will remain what it is today: a hole in the ground, filled with broken dreams.

Impact : The shelving of the Makati Subway Project has ripple effects beyond financial losses. It exacerbates Metro Manila’s crippling traffic congestion, with commuters losing hours daily to gridlock. The 6,000 jobs promised by the project are gone, hitting workers in a still-recovering economy. Small businesses near planned stations, anticipating a boom from increased foot traffic, face uncertainty. The dispute also deepens public distrust in governance, as dynastic feuds and bureaucratic inaction erode faith in infrastructure promises. Most critically, it delays the Philippines’ integration into the global trend of urban subway systems, leaving the capital region stuck in a cycle of inefficiency and missed opportunities.(TAMBULI NG BAYAN-Ronnie Estrada) #Eleksyon2025 #PhPolitics #abybinay

PHOTO: Makati Mayor Abby Binay stands by the city’s ambitious subway project, which she once hailed as her “crowning glory” — a legacy she hoped to inaugurate by the end of her third term in 2025, when the long-awaited transit system was originally set to begin operations.