The hum of morning traffic was already dense outside the glass walls of Sentinel's top floor, but inside, the boardroom was silent. On the main screen, a cross-section of Metro Manila appeared—its surface cluttered with roads, railways, and rising towers. But what caught everyone's attention was what lay beneath: a proposed subway line stretching from Quezon City to Manila Bay.
Angel stood at the head of the table, laser pointer in hand, as she spoke to a room of urban planners, financial officers, and civil engineers.
"This," she began, "is the next battleground."
Matthew leaned back in his chair, his gaze fixed on the blueprint. "Status?"
Angel pulled up a data chart. "The Metro Manila Subway Project—MMSP. Funded jointly by the national government and foreign development loans. Groundbreaking was in 2019, but since then? Less than 15% of the tunnel boring has been completed. Delays from COVID, contractor disputes, cost overruns, and coordination issues between agencies."
