Veterans golf course eyed for mass transit terminal

The Department of Transportation and Communications is seeking talks with the Department of Defense to potentially develop part of the Veterans Memorial Hospital and Golf Course in Quezon City into an integrated transportation hub for mass transit services.

Transportation Secretary Joseph Abaya told reporters they are “seriously” targeting the site for the Integrated Transport System-North public-private partnership (PPP) deal.

Two other ITS sites have been identified in the southern part of Metro Manila and have been rolled out under the PPP program.

Abaya noted that the development of an ITS on this area would also benefit access to the state-run hospital.

“I think, at least from both sides, we have a mutual interest,” Abaya said.

The 55-hectare property of Veterans Memorial Hospital, which includes the main medical facility surrounded by an 18-hole golf course, is located across Ayala Land Inc.’s 29-hectare Vertis North mixed-use development in the North Triangle area of Quezon City.

Earlier reports showed that the Department of National Defense was studying the sale or lease of the golf course.

Vertis North is beside Ayala Land’s Trinoma shopping mall, where the DOTC is seeking to locate a Metro Rail Transit and Light Rail Transit joint station. This plan was put into hold after it ran into legal complications with the SM Group, which secured a Supreme Court order temporarily halting the transfer of the “common station” from SM’s shopping mall nearby.

There is still no final decision made on the North ITS project’s location. Other options previously disclosed by the department include what used to be the Manila Seedling Bank along Edsa.