Makati City Mayor Nancy Binay slammed on Sunday, July 6, what she called the city's previous administration's “midnight deal” with the contractor of the Makati subway project worth P8.96 billion, giving full ownership of the project to the city government just days before her term ended.

In a statement, Binay said the agreement, which was approved and signed by the Makati City Council on June 23, requires the city government to pay P8.96 billion to Philippine InfraDev Holdings Inc. (InfraDev) within 90 days from the issuance of the consent award by the Singapore International Arbitration Center (SIAC).

“Malalagay po sa bingit ng alanganin ang pampinansyal na kalusugan ng ating Lungsod kung sakali mang ibaba ng SIAC ang nasabing settlement agreement. Sa katunayan, dahil sa nakanselang Makati Subway Project, hindi po kayang magbayad ng Lungsod ng humigit-kumulang P9 bilyon sa Philippine InfraDev Holdings (The financial health of Makati will be at risk once SIAC orders the settlement agreement. In fact, because of the cancelled Makati Subway Project, the city cannot pay the P9 billion to Philippine InfraDev Holdings), she explained, adding that this may also affect the city's current projects.

There was also no existing appropriation in Makati's 2025 budget to cover the over P8 billion amount based on a certification letter issued by the City Budget Department on July 3.

Binay said she has ordered Makati's legal department to prepare the necessary documents to explain the city's position on the agreement to the SIAC.

“We can hardly accept a settlement of this magnitude without transparency, due diligence, and legal safeguards. Sa mga ganitong klaseng galawan, laging kawawa ang taumbayan. I will also be issuing an executive order calling for the formation of a fact-finding committee to investigate and look into all Public-Private Partnership projects entered into by the city government to ensure the best interest of the people of Makati will always be protected (We can hardly accept a settlement of this magnitude without transparency, due diligence, and legal safeguards. In these kinds of actions and decisions, it is always the people who are suffering the consequences. I will also be issuing an executive order calling for the formation of a fact-finding committee to investigate and look into all Public-Private Partnership projects entered into by the city government to ensure the best interest of the people of Makati will always be protected),” Binay explained.

“We will not let these midnight deals and legally-flawed settlement agreements that were easily passed and the payment of P8.96 billion for the settlement of the Makati Subway Project be grossly disadvantageous to the city government and the public,” she added.

The construction of the monumental 11-kilometer-long Makati Subway Project, introduced in 2018 and targeted to serve around 700,000 commuters daily, came to an abrupt halt due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2022, a Supreme Court (SC) ruling ordering the transfer of jurisdiction of the 10 Embo (enlisted men’s barrios) barangays from Makati City to Taguig City affected the alignment of the project.

This prompted InfraDev to declare the project as no longer economically and operationally feasible as some of its stations were placed under Taguig's jurisdiction.