President Rodrigo Duterte’s ambitious infrastructure program will not be a success if big major companies are kept on the sidelines.
Philippine conglomerates, on their own, are proposing infrastructure projects worth P1.33 trillion in support of the government’s “Build, Build, Build” program.
The country’s big conglomerates, namely San Miguel Corp., Ayala Corp., SM Group, Philippine Airlines and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. vowed to help the government in achieving its “Golden Age of Infrastructure” by building new expressways and airports to solve the land and air traffic congestion in the Philippines.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency earlier estimated the cost of traffic at P2.4 billion a day. Without intervention, Jica estimated traffic costs would increase to P6 billion a day.
The MPIC Group submitted an unsolicited proposal to build the P60-billion C5 Expressway Project, a 21.8-kilometer all-elevated expressway from the end of NLEX Segment 8.2 in Luzon Avenue, Quezon City to Cavitex C-5 South Link. It will complete the missing segment of the C-5 Circumferential Expressway alignment, a crucial component of the Metro Manila Urban Expressway Network.
The conglomerate also proposes to construct the P62.43 billion NLEX-Cavitex Port Expressway Link Project, which aims to connect North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) and Cavite Expressway (Cavitex).
San Miguel is proposing to build a P700-billon new international gateway in Bulacan, which aims to decongest the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
San Miguel wanted to build an airport with at least four runways and covering 2,000 hectares in Bulacan towns near Manila Bay.
Lucio Tan-led PAL also submitted an unsolicited proposal to build a P20-billon new passenger terminal beside its current hub at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Centennial Terminal 2 to accommodate more passengers.
The proposed terminal would be designed to handle 12 million to 15 million passengers a year and would have aerobridges capable of serving 12 to 17 wide-bodied and single aisle jets.
The construction of the new terminal is expected to start by December 2020 and be operational by July 2021.
Naia’s four terminals are hosting 42 million passengers a year, 12 million or 40 percent more than their designed capacity of 30 million.
In terms of solving the traffic congestion in Metro Manila, Coastal Development Consortium of San Miguel Holdings Corp. and New San Jose Builders Inc. is proposing to construct the P399.7 billion Manila Bay Integrated Flood Control, Coastal Defense and Expressway Project.
The consortium of AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp. and SM Investments Corp. also proposed to construct the P23.7-billion C3 Elevated Expressway Project, an 8.6-kilometer road that will start from the fringes of the Skyway Stage 3 at Sta. Mesa in Manila.
The project is expected to serve over 50,000 vehicles per day upon completion of construction to relieve traffic congestion in Circumferential Roads 2 (Quirino) and 4 (EDSA).
MPCALA Holdings, meanwhile, plans to build the P23.69 billion Cavite-Tagaytay-Batangas Expressway that will link Cavite-Laguna (CALA) Expressway at Silang East Interchange to Tagaytay City and terminate at Nasugbu, Batangas.
The 46.20-km tollway consists of a two-by-two lane carriageway traversing mostly the rural areas of Silang, Tagaytay, Amadeo, Mendez, Alfonso and Magallanes, all in Cavite province, and Nasugbu in Batangas.
The P40.99 billion Manila-Taguig Expressway, on the other hand, was proposed by CLGP Philippine Holdings Inc. and P.T. Citra Persada Infrastruktur.
The project is a 17.77-km elevated toll road expressway to run along the banks of Pasig River, which shall serve as a radial road in Metro Manila that will connect the province of Rizal through Metro Manila Expressway (C-6) to the heart of the cities of Pasig, Makati and Manila.
