Edsa Busway Rehabilitation Project Begins in 2025
Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon confirmed that the Edsa Busway rehabilitation project will commence this year. The project aims to improve the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (Edsa) Busway, a crucial transport artery in Metro Manila.
During a joint inspection with Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman and other officials at the Edsa Busway-North Avenue Station, they evaluated the current state of the busway and nearby transport facilities along Elliptical Road in Quezon City. The four-word keyphrase “Edsa Busway rehabilitation project” was emphasized as they discussed the upcoming works.
Phase 1: Upgrading Existing Stations
The first phase will focus on four existing busway stations: Monumento, Bagong Barrio, North Avenue, and Guadalupe. Secretary Dizon revealed that this phase will cost approximately PHP 212 million.
“You know, the DOTr budget is very limited this year. It was cut significantly in 2025. So, we have actually pooled the available funds with the help of Sec. Mina so that we can start this this year and not wait until next year,” Dizon said. He added that President Marcos has urged to speed up projects for commuters, which motivated the early start.
The Department of Transportation aims to complete the design phase of Phase 1 within one to three months, followed by a nine-month construction period.
Phase 2: New Stations and Expansion
Phase 2 will cover three stations, including new busway stops at the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX) and Cubao. Secretary Dizon noted these locations were chosen due to high commuter demand and the absence of current stations.
The estimated cost for Phase 2 is around PHP 200 million. Construction is scheduled to begin by October 2025 and is expected to finish by mid to late next year.
“All of these will be finished next year, maybe by the middle or the third quarter of next year, everything will be finished,” Dizon shared. “So, the important thing is, even though we are short of funds, let’s start by 2025.”
Budget Challenges and Future Plans
Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman disclosed that the Department of Transportation’s budget faced a significant reduction of around PHP 100 billion for 2025, with cuts spanning the past two years. Despite this, the agency utilized continuing appropriations totaling over PHP 500 million to kickstart the project.
“For 2025, P100 billion was cut from the DOTR budget. More than half was cut from the DOTR budget for the past two years — 2024 and 2025,” Pangandaman said. “The good thing here is that there are budgets that are there but they haven’t been used. So what we are using now, at least somehow, with proper planning, enabled leadership of Secretary Vince and also his colleagues in the DOTR, we have used his continuing appropriations. Which is about more than P500 million, so we have started this project,” she added.
She also mentioned that the Department of Budget and Management plans to recommend additional funding to complete the entire project, which involves upgrading 20 stations plus two new ones, potentially requiring around PHP 1 billion.
“So, maybe we should recommend that maybe we can find some more budget if we don’t have enough so we can get it done straight away. By next year, everything will be complete. All at once. Let’s not do it per phase, right? Let’s do it all at once,” Pangandaman explained.
Legislative Support for Budget Approval
Quezon City 3rd District Representative Franz Pumaren assured support for the DOTr’s proposed budget for 2026. As chairperson of the Committee on Transportation, he plans to ensure the proposed budget is approved to help implement key infrastructure projects.
“Last week, we had a briefing with Sec. Vince on what is needed for next year. And with regards to Sec. Mina, I think the budget proposal of DOTr, being the chairperson of Committee on Transportation, I will make sure that the proposed budget is received,” Pumaren said.
“Because as we all know, for the last two years, they had budget cuts. But this time, it’s about time for us to implement our big-ticket projects,” he added.
For more news and updates on the Edsa Busway rehabilitation project, visit Filipinokami.com.
