BCDA inks P1.5-B loan to complete counterpart funding for SCTEP

The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) recently signed a P1.5-billion loan with three banks to complete its local counterpart funding for the 93.7 km Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway Project (SCTEP).

The BCDA said it has concluded the loan deal with the Philippine National Bank (PNB), the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and Allied Banking Corp. (ABC).

The loan was arranged through Bancommerce Investment Corp. (BIC).

BCDA President and Chief Executive Officer Narciso Abaya said the loan is a 30-month committed credit line facility convertible to a five-year term loan upon drawdown to finance the equity counterpart of the SCTEP.

As part of the loan agreement, the DBP-Trust Services would serve as the Debt and Sinking Fund Agent which is responsible for the establishment/management of the Debt Service Reserve Account.

The DBP-Trust Services would also facilitate the payment of interest and principal to the lenders.

Last year, the BCDA signed a debt facility worth P1 billion with the Banco De Oro Universal Bank (BDO). Abaya said that with the financial aspect of the SCTEP in place, the BCDA expects construction of the 93.7 km expressway, the longest so far in Philippine expressway history, to be completed as projected by the latter part of 2007. Construction started last April.

The SCTEP has a total project cost of approximately P27.5 billion.

A loan from the Japanese government through the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) would finance the construction cost of P21 billion.

The BCDA has committed to raise the remaining amount as counterpart fund of roughly P6.5 billion.

Of the P6.5 billion, P3.1 billion would be in the form of tax subsidy, while P3.4 billion would be financed through a debt facility.

Abaya noted that once completed, the modern expressway would connect the deep water seaport in Subic and the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) in Clark to facilitate the transport of goods and services and people in a globally competitive environment.

"In the medium- to long-term projection, the Subic-Clark corridor will allow the country to leapfrog into the mainstream of global trade and industry, attracting more investors resulting to more jobs for the Filipinos," Abaya said.

The BCDA said travel time from Clark to Subic would be a mere 30 minutes, while that of Clark to Tarlac would take no more than 25 minutes.

The marked reduction in travel time would help contribute in reducing the cost of doing business in the area.

The 93.7 km expressway project, similar to the newly renovated North Luzon Expressway, is divided into two packages. Package I, the Subic-Clark section, is 50.4 km long, while Package II, the Clark-Tarlac section, is 43.2 km long.

A total of eight interchanges would be constructed namely: Tipo Junction, Dinalupihan Interchange, Clark Logistics Interchange, Spur/North Luzon Expressway Interchange, Clark North Interchange, Concepcion Interchange, San Miguel Interchange and La Paz Interchange.

A total of 33 bridges would also be constructed. Of the 33 bridges, four are major bridges with a length of more than 300 meters.

Of the four major bridges, the Sacobia-Bamban River Bridges is the longest at 1.16 kilometers.

The three other bridges are the Pasig-Potrero River Bridge, 720 meters; Porac River Bridge, 400 meters and the Gumain River Bridge at 318 meters.

Other structures that would be constructed as part of the expressway are 44 underpasses and 255 culverts.

Another feature of the expressway is the state-of-the-art closed-circuit toll system.

The Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway is among the infrastructure projects identified in President Gloria Macapagal-Aroyo’s Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) that is expected to develop Clark and Subic as centers of excellence in international service and logistics in the entire Southeast Asian region.

It is also included in the President’s 10-point agenda.