P22-B CTBEx proposal seen OKd in early 2020

A Manila to Tagaytay expressway could receive the final approval from the government early next year, according to Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar.

Villar told reporters in a recent interview that the 50.4-kilometer Cavite-Tagaytay-Batangas Expressway (CTBEx) would be taken up by the board of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) in the first quarter of 2020.

A Neda board approval will pave the way for a Swiss challenge, a process that allows other groups to submit rival offers, which the original proponent has the right to match.

Metro Pacific Tollways South, a unit of Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., was named the original proponent for the project, which would cut travel time between Manila, Tagatay and Batangas.

The CTBEx, which could take two years to build, was estimated to cost P22 billion.

Once done, it will link Metro Pacific’s Cavite-Laguna Expressway, which is under construction, and its Cavite Expressway. Travel time will be shortened in Governor’s Drive to Nasugbu and the Santa Rosa to Tagaytay route. It will benefit about 23,000 motorists daily, where multi-hour trips will be cut by at least half, the company had said. —Miguel R. Camus