MVP: Builder of dreams
The sound of heavy machinery drilling piles into the ground fill the air in the areas along Open Canal Road in the City of Imus, Cavite. It is the sound of the 45.29-kilometer Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAEX) being built, one of several big-ticket infrastructure projects through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) scheme as part the Duterte administration’s Build, Build, Build program.
Once completed, the CALAEX will connect the Manila-Cavite Expressway (CAVITEX), which extends from Kawit, Cavite to Parañaque, with the South Luzon Expressway’s (SLEX) Mamplasan Exit. The project is being constructed by MPCALA Holdings Inc., a unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) led by businessman Manny V. Pangilinan, also known as MVP.
HIGHWAY DREAMER
Ever the visionary, MVP has already seen the importance of highways in driving economic growth even before the Duterte administration announced its grand plan for infrastructure development in 2017. Two of the highways his company manages, the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) and the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX), demonstrate this vision. Both highways — managed by MPIC sub-unit NLEX Corp. — have contributed to the growth of the Central Luzon provinces of Bulacan, Pampanga and Tarlac in recent years.
When congestion at the port of Manila was a pressing concern during the administration of former President Benigno Aquino III, NLEX Corp. bagged the contract for the construction of the 21.65-kilometer NLEX North Harbor Link Project. The elevated expressway has been in construction since 2014 and included in the Duterte administration’s lineup of Build, Build, Build projects.
Once completed by Q3 this year, the NLEX North Harbor Link is expected to connect the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) with the Manila North Harbor via C3 Road and the old railroad alignment of the Philippine National Railways. It will
serve as a direct link to cargo trucks going to NLEX from Manila’s North and South Harbor (and vice versa) without having to pass through EDSA and the Balintawak Toll Plaza.
“The NLEX Harbor Link will be a great boost to the country’s cargo transport industry as cargo trucks will have 24/7 direct access from the port to the northern provinces of Luzon and vice versa,” MVP told reporters in April 2017.
‘WE WILL GIVE YOU THE ROAD’
Just like the NLEX Harbor Link Project, the CALAEX project has also been included in the Duterte administration’s Build, Build, Build portfolio even though the project was awarded to MPCALA in 2015. The inclusion reflects MVP’s commitment in supporting the Duterte administration’s grand plan for infrastructure development.
“We have talked about this CALAEX project for many years in the previous administration. We’re glad this day has come for us to begin the golden age of infrastructure. Just give us the right of way and we will give you the road. We will finish this before President Duterte’s term ends,” MVP told reporters during the groundbreaking of CALAEX in June last year.
With the success of the NLEX and the SCTEX in driving economic growth in Central Luzon, the construction of CALAEX in much of Cavite and parts of Laguna is also expected to boost economic growth in the two provinces once finished by 2020. The new highway is seen to reduce congestion along Aguinaldo Highway, Governor’s Drive and Sta. Rosa-Tagaytay Road, and will cut travel time between CAVITEX and SLEX by about 45 minutes.
But even before its completion, CALAEX is already transforming the real estate landscape along its path. New townships and subdivisions are already rising in what used to be vast tracks of farm and grassland in Kawit, Imus, General Trias, and Silang following the announcement of the project. Industrial estates in both Cavite and Laguna are also seeing significant growth in tenants due to the project.
Apart from CALAEX, MVP has a few other expressways currently under construction as part of the Build, Build Build program and are expected improve connectivity and reduce traffic congestion within Metro Manila once finished.
The first one, the 7.63-kilometer C5 South Link Expressway, will connect the C5 Road in Taguig with the CAVITEX in Parañaque. Once completed in 2020, the expressway will directly link the central business districts of Taguig and Makati with Parañaque, Las Piñas, and Cavite, allowing private and public vehicles to travel to and from these destinations without passing through EDSA and SLEX.
Another project, the eight-kilometer NLEX-SLEX Connector, is set to begin construction by May 2019. The elevated, four-lane expressway will connect the NLEX beginning at Segment 10 of the NLEX Harbor Link along C3 Road in Caloocan and will follow the Philippine National Railway’s alignment before connecting with the SLEX in Sta. Mesa, Manila via the Skyway Stage 3, which is currently being constructed.
MPIC’s NLEX Corp. initially offered the project to the government as an unsolicited proposal and a Swiss challenge was conducted to find a company that could match MPIC’s proposal. Since there were no comparative proposals submitted to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to challenge the offer, MPIC was awarded the project in September 2016.
FORGING RAILWAYS
Just as the construction of railways has helped the growth of the US in 1800s and rapid development of China into a global superpower in the 1990s and 2000s, MVP also sees how railways will be crucial drivers of economic growth for the country. Hence, the inclusion of railways in his company’s diverse project portfolio.
In 2014, MVP partnered with the Zobel Brothers’ Ayala Corporation and Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings to establish the joint-venture company, Light Rail Manila Corporation (LRMC), which won the bid in 2015 for the 32-year concession to operate and maintain the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1 from Roosevelt to Baclaran and to construct its 11.7-kilometer extension to Bacoor, Cavite.
Since taking over operations and maintenance of the LRT Line 1, LRMC has improved the train line’s services. All of its 20 stations have since been renovated to improve passenger accessibility, safety and security. These include the introduction of X-ray machines for scanning of passenger luggage at entrances, repainting of stations, installation of new train information screens, replacement of turnstiles to accommodate the new Beep card ticketing system, installation of Beep card vending machines, and installation of emergency telephone system, among others.
Moreover, LRMC has invested in replacement of old rails and concrete parapet walls throughout the train line and has tapped Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp. to supply the train line with new train coaches from 2020 to 2022.
But the most-awaited development for the LRT Line 1 is the Cavite Extension. LRMC is set to begin its construction by October 2018 and plans to finish the project by 2021. The extension will add 11 stations to the train line and will connect the cities of Parañaque, Las Piñas and Bacoor with the rest of Metro Manila.
“An efficient transport system is a catalyst for growth and an extended LRT 1 running all the way to Bacoor will generate growth along the corridor. The LRT 1 has been in operation for over 20 years and this event brings forth the beginning of a new age for Metro Manila commuters,” MVP told reporters when LRMC bagged the LRT 1 contract in 2014.
Bridging islands
While MVP has successfully embarked on projects that connect key growth areas in Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon, he is also set to prove that connectivity isn’t just about building infrastructure over land — it’s about building bridges over water as well.
That’s because MPIC has recently broke ground for the construction of the 8.5-kilometer Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) that will link the islands of Cebu and Mactan in Central Visayas through a toll road and cablestayed bridge. No less than President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and MVP led the groundbreaking ceremony for the project in March last year.
Construction for the bridge and toll road already began this month with D. M. Consunji Inc., First Balfour Inc. and Acciona Construccion of Spain being tapped for engineering and construction work on the project. MPIC bagged the contract to build the P28-billion toll road and bridge project in January 2016 and is expected to complete it by 2020.
Upon completion, the expressway will be Cebu City’s third bridge to Mactan Island where the international airport for Metro Cebu is located. It will help decongest traffic along the Marcelo Fernan Bridge and Mandaue Bridge, where around 400,000 vehicles pass through daily. It is also expected to spur economic growth in the town of Cordova in southern Mactan Island as well as in the southern portion of Metro Cebu.
With the construction of CCLEX, MPIC has opened up opportunities to build a fourth bridge that would connect Cebu and Mactan, and perhaps, even a bridge that would link Cebu and Mactan with Bohol.
“This (CCLEX) is the third bridge, but in my own assessment, you do need two more bridges and we’d like to see the fourth bridge being built certainly in much less than 20 years. Earlier, (Bohol) Gov. Edgar Chatto told me that I should link the islands of Cebu and Bohol, and I said, ‘Absolutely!’” Pangilinan said during the groundbreaking for CCLEX in March 2017.
Whether its building expressways over land, moving the masses using railways, or bridging the country’s islands, MVP’s investments in infrastructure developments has proven that he is not only a shrewd businessman — he is also a builder of dreams.