MANILA, Philippines — The development of the first ever Filipino monorail system would be completed by May or June next year but would initially be ran for testing inside either the compound of the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) and the UP campus in Diliman, DoST Secretary Mario Montejo said on Monday.

In an interview, Montejo told reporters that the monorail would be running by June 2011 at the latest. Prior to this, it would be tested and promoted as a good transportation alternative.

As soon as they are out with a system, he said, they would be able to know how much it would cost for metro-wide use.

For now, Montejo refused to give details as to the cost of building a monorail system, but assured that it would be cheaper considering that it is 100 percent local.

“We will invite the media to ride the first local mass transit by June and see the difference between local MRT and LRT,” he said.mrt, lrt,

Montejo said they have already started working on the monorail development in line with the government bid to reduce traffic and address the problem of overcrowding in mass transport.

Soon as it is developed, the DoST chief said, the new mode of transportation would be plying around the DoST compound or the UP campus to ferry passengers, while showcasing their green sights.

The system DoST intends to develop is similar to the MRT and LRT, except that it runs on a single rail, which acts as its sole support and guideway.

It is formally called the Automated Guideway Transit.

“We are coming up with a local AGT to address the problem of overcrowding in our mass transports. This is how we would want local science and technology work, to respond to the people’s needs,” Montejo said.

He said developing the AGT locally will cost only a fifth compared with the price of importing one.

Montejo said with its compact size, AGT does not completely block landscapes and the skyline.

As it has its own route and track, he added, it will not interfere with the existing transport modes, and will be traffic- and accident-free.

To set the AGT project in motion, the DoST is designing the detailed engineering plan and preparing the framework and schedule of activities, among others.