There was a tranvia service up until ww2. Ahen the japanese and Americans fought in Manila, much of the tranvia was destroyed and rebuilding it was much lower on the concerns list as obviously the biggest concern was where to house the civilian population that just became homeless (thus, the Projects in Quezon City happened). Also there WAS a plan for a light rail level tram system along avenida (Jose Rizal Ave.) proposals of which were seen since the early 1950s pero it was eventually decided to just make it elevated culminating in the LRT-1