Highlights
- Next mega infrastructure project to link 2 major agro-industrial hubs south of Manila.
- Original proposal of 50.42-km expressway will now be extended to more than 90km.
Manila: Filipino billionaires Ramon S. Ang and Manuel V. Pangilinan — two of infrastructure titans in the Asian country — have joined forces for a new expressway mega-project that will connect the provinces of Cavite and Batangas.
The move is unprecedented, though the bon homie between the two of the country’s most ambitious business leaders has been noted of late.
For the moment, in the midst of the so-called “golden age” of infrastructure build-up, most of which are now privately-driven, the business tycoons appear to be happy to put their rivalry aside.
Ang (also known as "RSA") is president and CEO of San Miguel Corp. (SMC), one of the country's biggest conglomerates. On July 14, RSA was seen attending the 77th birthday celebration of Pangilinan, also known as "MVP", CEO of Metro Pacific Investment Corp. at the Meralco headquarters in Ortigas.
Unprecedented
The potential result: a multi-billion-peso project that would turn the two provinces (Cavite and Batangas) closer to each other — and to Metro Manila, currently known as Cavite–Tagaytay–Batangas Expressway (CTBEX). The original proposal of 50.42-kilometre expressway will now be extended to more than 90km.
It will connect the under-construction Cavite–Laguna Expressway (Calax) in the municipality of Silang, Cavite to J.P. Laurel Street in the municipality of Nasugbu, Batangas, situated as the western terminus of the expressway.
RSA is the titan behind the $1.3 billion Manila Skyway, a major elevated road that cuts across the Philippine capital — at more than 42km, it is one of the world’s longest elevated urban highways, which has a link to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport — thus immensely helping decongest the National Capital Region.
Ang is also behind the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX). SMC Infrastructure is concurrently building a $15-billion second international airport in Bulacan, 30 minutes north of Manila, designed to accommodate up to 200 million passengers annually. The project, covered by a 50-year concession deal, calls for a new airport to decongest over-congested Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Pangilinan, for his part, is behind MPT North, the builder-concessionaire and operator of two major expressways that link Metro Manila to North and Central Luzon: North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) and Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX).
Pangilinan is also at the helm of Meralco, the country’s largest utility, and sits as Chairman of PLDT Inc., Smart Communications, Inc., PLDT Communications and Energy Ventures, Inc., Global Business Power Corporation and Maynilad Water Services, among others.
It links the NLEX and SLEX expressways with the NAIA Expressway (NAIAX), which provides access to Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
With a total length of about 42 km, it is one of the longest elevated highways in the world and the first entirely grade-separated highway in the Philippines.
Landmark tollway
Ang recently told Philippine media that the new route, a 96-kilometer landmark tollway, will connect Cavite to Batangas and then Batangas to the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (Calax).
Calax is public-private partnership project with the Philippines’ Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) as implementing agency, with MPCALA Holdings Inc., a subsidiary of the Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC), under Pangilinan.
The two infrastructure barrons (RSA has a reported net worth of $3.3 billion; MVP's is at $105 million | Php5.7 billion, as per Forbes) decided against continuing their individually planned ideas, which approximately followed the same route. This move favours jointly developing a larger — and longer — tollway after pooling their infrastructure experiences.
“We are tollway partners for a new Batangas and Cavite (project that would span) Nasugbu, Batangas, STAR Tollway, Tagaytay and then CALAX,” Ang was quoted as saying.
He said he and Pangilinan already agreed on the new project last month and their respective teams are now ironing out the details.
The two are also some of the biggest sports patrons in the country.
The 32.66-km(20.296 mi) project, commonly known as Skyway Stage 4, connects Skyway Stage 2 near Arca South in Taguig with Batasan Road (near the Batasang Pambansa Complex) in Quezon City.
The expressway will eventually reach Bulacan. The project seeks to give drivers traveling from Rizal and the Calabarzon region an alternative route to EDSA, C-5, and other key routes, thus reducing traffic congestion.
Filipino YouTuber Neb Andro uploaded this video showing the SLEX connection from Manila to CALAX.
