MPTC eyes government priority road projects

MANILA, Philippines - Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) said it may participate in other government priority road projects either by way of bidding or by submitting unsolicited proposals.

MPTC president Ramoncito Fernandez told The STAR that while they are still awaiting word on the road projects to be prioritized by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), he mentioned the Calamba, Laguna Expressway and the Skyway link to the Manila airport to Coastal Road as among such projects worth looking into.

Last June, the DPWH accepted MPTC’s unsolicited proposal to undertake the P17-billion, 13.2-kilometer elevated connector road project that will connect the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) with the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX).

The connector road will run along the Philippine National Railway (PNR) tracks within the Manila Central Business District, from the end of NLEX at C3 to the beginning of Skyway 1 at Buendia in Makati, and is projected to start in 2012.

MPTC’s parent Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) is also looking at a new project for the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) in Clark that will include not only a passenger terminal but also a new runway, road network and railway express that will span from Clark in Pampanga to Makati.

But MPIC and MPTC chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan earlier said they hope that the government’s private-public sector partnership (PPP) program will include not only the passenger terminal but the entire project as well.

Pangilinan said they have tapped consultants to design the whole project, adding that will probably take five to 10 years before the Clark project materializes.

He explained that while it may take some time before the project takes off, he emphasized that an airport express train service is needed if the Clark airport seeks to attract more foreign carriers.

“The Philippines is the only country which still does not have an airport express service,” he stressed.

Pangilinan also told The STAR that the airport express project can be complementary to the connector road project that will be undertaken by MPTC.  “We do not know yet whether it is the connector road or the airport express railroad that will be constructed above the PNR tracks. We are thinking of three levels. On the ground will be the PNR rail system, and above it are the connector road or the airport express railroad. But the two projects will both use the PNR right-of-way.”

He pointed out that while the train project may compete in some way with the connector road project, he emphasized that what is needed is to bring in more people into Clark.

As envisioned, he said the airport express may have three stops - Balintawak, Espana and Buendia.

Pangilinan noted that one of the requirements among foreign air carriers is for a train to travel 40 minutes from Metro Manila to Clark for them to locate at DMIA. “The speed of the train must be calibrated,” he said.

In an earlier interview, Fernandez said it is very natural for the Clark airport to use the NLEX right-of-way for a possible high-speed rail.

“If you have an airport in the North, you need a high-speed rail that will bring passengers in and out of the airport,” he added.

Both MPIC and San Miguel Corp. (SMC) earlier announced that they are in talks on the possibility of being partners in joining a Filipino-Korean consortium led by Philco Aero, which earlier made an unsolicited proposal to construct a $177 million (more than P8 billion) new terminal (Terminal 2) at the DMIA. 

The Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) has announced that its joint venture special committee (JVSC) had favored the Philco Aero-led group for “detailed negotiations” for the Terminal 2 project.