Thank you very much to our Transportation Secretary, Secretary Jimmy Bautista. [Please, take your seats.]

Of course, our partner in development not only for this project, but for many, many, many years, the Ambassador of Japan to the Philippines, His Excellency Kazuhiko Koshikawa; the honorable members of the Senate and House of Representatives who are with us this afternoon; the local chief executives who are all here present and correct dahil dadaan sa kanila ang ating mga extension na ginagawa para dito sa LR3 – LRT 4, sorry, LRT 4; local chief executives; JICA Philippines Chief Representative Takema Sakamoto, once again, JICA who has been our partner in development for many, many, many years; Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation Chairman Manny Pangilinan, who is the local counterpart for this program and who has been working very hard to make this a success; my fellow workers in government; ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon.

It’s with great pride that I join with you here today to inaugurate the Light Rail Transit Line 1 4th Generation Light Rail Vehicles.

In my first State of the Nation Address, I emphasized the integral role of infrastructure development, such as the construction of farm-to-market roads and improvement of our railway systems, in our social and economic progress.

It truly makes me proud to witness the steady realization of our vision of a more developed Philippines coming into fruition through our new LRVs, which will be used in the existing LRT-1 system and on the LRT-1 Extension to Cavite.

I recognize, of course, the hard work that has been done by the Department of Transportation, the Light Rail Transit Authority, and the Light Rail Manila Corporation for working together to provide the Filipino people with safe, reliable, and efficient transportation services.

I also convey my gratitude and the Philippines’ gratitude to the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the Mitsubishi Corporation, and the Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles for your partnership with the Philippine government in our Capacity Enhancement of Mass Transit Systems in the Metro Rail Project.

This commitment that you have shown to enhance the capacity of the LRT-1 by increasing the number of LRVs, we will be able to now aid in easing traffic congestion as well as mitigating air pollution caused by vehicles plying the roads of Metro Manila.

Equipped with advanced passenger information systems, and a new signaling system, I am confident that the LRVs will not only improve the overall passenger experience, but also will be championing safety.

That’s a good sign Sec. Jimmy the airport is running more efficiently than it was before. [laughter and applause]

In line with this, I am one with the general public in eagerly anticipating the full operations of the LRT-1 Cavite Extension for 2027.

The flagship infrastructure project is expected to service up to 800,000 passengers a day and shorten the travel time between Baclaran, Pasay City and Bacoor from one hour and 10 minutes to 25 minutes.

Having said that, I ask the public for your continued patience during the construction of the LRT-1 Cavite Extension.

And I ask also our commuters to practice courtesy and basic etiquette when using public conveyances — such as keeping the trains clean as well as following the rules — so that our transport systems can run in an efficient, effective, and orderly manner.

I assure you that this administration will continue to pursue more public transportation development projects that will improve our people’s mobility and interconnectivity as well as to enhance the quality of each Filipino.

I invite everyone to join us [in] building the modern, innovative, and prosperous Philippines that we all envision for our people.

Once again, I thank all that have been involved from the management level, from the financing level, from the government level, all the way down to all of those who have worked very, very hard to make this possible.

And I congratulate you on your success and I once again ask you to continue the good work that you have started here so that we can make this the new normal for transport systems in Manila and in the Philippines.

Thank you and good afternoon. [applause]

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SOURCE: PCO-PND (Presidential News Desk)