MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Transportation on Wednesday morning praised a Denmark-based railway engineer and OFW who came home to assist with the construction of the Metro Manila Subway and the planned LRT-2 line extension projects.

Deo Miranda, a graduate of the Technological Institute of the Philippines, began his first day as Engineer IV for the LRT-2 East and LRT-2 West Project Teams on Tuesday, the post said. He officially participated in the DOTr flag-raising ceremony the following morning.

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"All things considered, Deo Miranda had it good in Europe," DOTr said. "But, there was an unextinguished yearning in him to do something beyond filial duties."

According to DOTr, Miranda rallied other OFWs working in infrastructure after seeing a viral online post about the Metro Manila Subway project. The group of OFWs then met with Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade in July.

"We are here to support our current administration who has the vision and commitment to achieve the comfortable mass transport for Filipinos," DOTr quotes Miranda as saying after receiving the call that confirmed his employment with government.

The railway engineer said it is his desire to lend his knowledge to the country's mass transit systems and to be closer to his family in Antipolo, Rizal.

“Para sa akin, bayani ang mga OFWs. Bayani sila dahil sila ay nagsasakripisyo at nakikipagsapalaran sa ibang bansa para maiahon ang kani-kanilang pamilya sa hirap,” Secretary Tugade said.

"Ngunit talaga ring nakakaantig ng puso kung ang isang OFW, kahit sobrang laki ng kinikita sa ibang bansa, magdedesisyong bumalik at tumulong sa bayan at magsabing: Pilipinas naman."

(For me, OFWs are heroes. They are heroes because they sacrifice and take a risk in other countries to lift their families out of poverty. It moves one's heart to see an OFW, even if he earns so much in another country, decide to come back and help his countrymen and say: It's the Philippines' turn.)

Tugade said at a Senate hearing on DOTr's budget in early October that more than 60 railway engineer and technician OFWs based in Bahrain, Qatar, as well as Denmark, expressed willingness to come home and help with the infrastructure project.

"Pumirma ho sila ng mga application form. Basta maumpisahan lang yung subway project, given a reasonable time, they are ready to come back," Tugade said during a Senate hearing on his Department's budget.

(They signed application forms. As long as they are given a reasonable timeline when the subway project starts, they are ready to come back.)

The P393-B initiative has been called the "project of the century" for the country by Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia. Ground breaking for the subway began in February of this year, while partial operability of the line is slated for 2022 and full completion by 2025.

READ: Construction begins on Metro Manila Subway

This news comes less than a month after worker and transport groups said that the state of mass transportation in the country was in crisis. Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo disputed these claims, saying that people could still get to their destinations if they left their homes earlier.

In a 2018 study, the Japan International Cooperation Agency said that traffic today costs the Philippines an estimated P3.5 billion in "lost opportunities" daily, an amount that is expected to triple by 2030.

The administration's Build, Build, Build program was intended to usher in a "golden age of infrastructure." However, as of April 30 of this year, only two out of a total 75 infrastructure projects have been completed.