CCLEx concessionaire secures P19-B loan

THE private concessionaire for the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEx) has secured a P19-billion loan facility with six local banks, which will partially fund the construction of the bridge project in the Visayas.

Cebu Cordova Link Expressway Corp. (CCLEC) said in a statement it has inked a 15-year omnibus loan and security agreement with Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC), Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), Robinsons Bank Corp., Union Bank of the Philippines, Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), and Security Bank Corp.

“Construction completion of the (CCLEx) project is assured now that it has secured a P19-billion syndicated loan facility,” the unit of Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) said, noting the main foundation of the bridge is now nearing completion.

“All 21 piles of the main bridge’s Tower 2 have been completed while 17 out of 21 piles at the Tower 1 have been erected. These form part of the bridge’s main foundation,” the company said. “Piling works for the other project components such as the Cebu South Coastal Road onramp and viaduct are underway.”

The CCLEx is a P30-billion, 8.5-kilometer toll bridge that will link Mactan island to mainland Cebu.

The whole bridge is scheduled to open in 2021, by then it is hoped to benefit around 50,000 vehicles every day by decongesting the two existing bridges linking Mactan and Cebu.

MPTC is the tollways unit of the Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), one of the three key Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being Philex Mining Corp. and PLDT, Inc. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. —