Philippine Infradev subsidiary for subway project gets SEC nod

THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the application of Philippine Infradev Holdings, Inc. (formerly IRC Properties, Inc.) to incorporate the Makati City Subway, Inc., which will take charge of its underground railway project in Makati City.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Wednesday, the Antonio L. Tiu-led firm said Makati City Subway, Inc. will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Philippine Infradev, which will have “an authorized capital stock of P16 billion, of which P4 billion has been subscribed with P1 billion as paid-up capital.”

The Certificate of Incorporation from the SEC was given on Mar. 4. “The Makati City Subway, Inc. shall be the corporate vehicle that will be used by the Company for the Makati Subway project,” Philippine Infradev said.

Philippine Infradev is the proponent of the $3.7-billion Makati City Subway Project, which aims to build a 10-kilometer intracity railway system in the business district. It wants to connect Ayala Avenue to the area of Ospital ng Makati in around 15 minutes.

The listed firm is joined by Chinese firms Greenland Holdings Group, Jiangsu Provincial Construction Group Co. Ltd., Holdings Ltd. and China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd., which signed a memorandum of understanding with the Makati City government last year. The 30-year concession agreement for the project is expected to be signed this year.

In December, the group started the preparatory works for the project such as soil testing. The subway is targeted to open in 2025, by which it is expected to accommodate 700,000 passengers daily.

The Makati City Subway Project is eyed to have links to other railways in the area such as the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 and the Metro Manila Subway Project, which is scheduled for completion in 2025 also. —