REAL ESTATE firm Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI), a subsidiary of Ayala Corp., will likely start the construction of the Taguig City Integrated Terminal Exchange  project within the year, the Department of Transportation (DoTr) said.

“The groundbreaking is within this year; we are just completing some agreements,” Transportation Secretary Jaime J. Bautista told reporters on Aug. 9.

The project, which has been stalled since 2016, is a multimodal passenger terminal aiming to connect passengers to other systems such as the North-South Commuter Railway project, city buses, and other public utility vehicles, data from the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center showed.

The project was awarded to the proponent in 2015 and was initially scheduled to be operational by 2020 but encountered several issues.

“The project was already awarded to them (Ayala Land) but encountered delays because the government needs to deliver some conditions precedent,” Mr. Bautista said.

The project, with a contract term of 35 years inclusive of the construction period, had an estimated cost of P5.2 billion at the time of approval, according to the PPP Center.

The DoTr is finalizing the agreement with the Veterans Foundation of the Philippines for the right-of-way, Mr. Bautista said.

“We are just finishing the agreement with the Veterans Foundation of the Philippines, as they own some of the land,” he said. “The OSG (Office of the Solicitor General) did not allow us to buy it from them, so it will be just right-of-way usage.”

According to the PPP Center, the private proponent will handle the project’s design, construction, and financing, as well as its operations and maintenance.

“The concessionaire can also undertake commercial development and collect revenues generated from the same,” it added.

Mr. Bautista said the project is expected to enhance the transportation system as it is also designed to complement the Southeast Metro Manila Expressway (SEMME/C6) project and other government railway projects. — Ashley Erika O. Jose