MPIC allots P17B for 3rd Mactan bridge

MANILA, Philippines - Infrastructure giant Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) would spend as much as P17 billion to put up a third bridge connecting the city of Cebu and Mactan island.

Ramoncito Fernandez, president of MPIC’s Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC), said the company is just waiting from the issuance of the Notice of Award from city government of Cebu.

“Our estimate of the start of construction of the project is anywhere between six and nine months from notice of award,” Fernandez said.

The original cost of the 7.9-kilometer bridge when it was first submitted to the government was P15 billion.

“Cost of the project is about P17 billion at today’s prices,” he added.

With the third bridge, it would be easier for motorists from Cebu City and the rest of southern Cebu to go to Cordova and the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA).

There are about 82,000 vehicles per day using the two bridges that currently connect Cebu City and the island of Mactan.

MPIC has earmarked a budget of P45 billion for its capital expenditures this year with the start of the P65-billion project to extend the Light Rail Transit line 1 (LRT-1) all the way to the province of Cavite.

MPIC president Jose Maria K. Lim earlier said the company has earmarked P10 billion next year for the LRT-1 extension project.

Without the budget for LRT-1, he pointed out that MPIC would spend P35 billion for its capital expenditures next year.

Last year, MPIC earmarked P35 billion for its capital expenditures of which P18 billion would go to water or Maynilad, P11 billion for electricity through Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), P3 billion for toll roads via the Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC), and P2 billion for the hospital group.

MPIC’s Metro Pacific Light Rail Corp. controls 55 percent of the consortium, followed by Ayala’s AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp. with 35 percent, and the Philippine Investment Alliance for Infrastructure’s Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings (Philippines) Pte. Ltd. with 10 percent.

MPIC is also the largest toll road operator in the Philippines accounting for 63 percent of the country’s total 320 kilometers of toll roads. This include the 93.77-km Subic-Clark-Tarlac expressway (SCTEX), the 86.7-km North Luzon expressway (NLEX), and the 13.5-km Manila Cavite Toll expressway (Cavitex).