MPTC to link Cavitex to C-5

THE TOLLROAD arm of Manuel V. Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Investments Corp. is aiming to start building next year an 8-kilometer tollroad extension that will link the Manila Cavite Expressway to the C-5 road in Metro Manila.

Christopher Lizo, chief financial officer of Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., said the plan was to open the P9 billion Cavitex extension project by 2019. Lizo said the company is in ongoing talks with the Toll Regulatory Board to revise the so-called notice to proceed to cover a certain interchange in the extension project.

“Hopefully we can get it before the end of the year so we can start construction,” Lizo said.

He added that the company is already in discussions to raise money for the initial phase of the project, which would cost around P2 billion, by the first quarter of 2016. He said the bulk of that amount will be financed by local borrowings, as well as support from controlling shareholder Metro Pacific Investments.

The project, formally known as the C-5 Link Expressway, is part of the existing concession of the 14-km Cavitex for the Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway network.

Metro Pacific had previously noted that, apart from the approval by the TRB, the project has also received the favorable endorsement of Parañaque City and its barangays.