Manila, Philippines – The Philippines and Japan has formally signed the second supplemental loan for the rehabilitation of Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theressa Lazaro, together with Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Endo Kazuya both signed the deal, worth P8.175 billion.
The said project is expected to be completed in 2029.
Representatives from the MRT Management, Land Transportation Office and Japan International Coordinating Agency (JICA) witnessed the signing ceremony.
Lazaro noted that the approved loan reflects on a deeper relationship between Japan and the Philippines.
The rehabilitation aims to restore the old safety structure of MRT-3 which has a vital role for commuters.
141 million passengers were catered by the MRT-3 for 2025 alone, the highest in over decades.
Transportation Assistant Secretary Giovanni Lopez welcomes the support of Japan, and said that the rehabilitation has commenced in November 2025.
Last year around 400,000 passengers were serviced by MRt-3 daily.
The rehabilitation includes the general overhauling of trains, replacement of mainline, restoration of the boogie frames and assemblies and upgrading the subsystems at power systems.
It is 2023 when the Philippines and Japan signed the supplemental loan for the phase 2 of the MRT-3 rehabilitation project which has the amount of P6.9-billion.—Alvin Pelobello, Eurotv News