Metro Pacific Tollways South gets original proponent status for CTBEx

SILANG, Cavite — The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) awarded Metro Pacific Tollways South the original proponent status for proposing to build a P22.43-billion tollroad connecting Silang and Tagaytay in Cavite to Nasugbu, Batangas or CTBEx.

The 50.42-kilometer Cavite-Tagaytay-Batangas Expressway (CBTEx) will connect the West Silang Interchange of the ongoing Cavite-Laguna Expressway to Tagaytay City and Nasugbu.

It will have eight main interchanges including Silang East, Pook, Aguinaldo, Amadeo, Mendez, Alfonso, Magallanes, and Nasugbu; and two spur roads.

The project is estimated to cost P22.43 billion.

Public Works Secretary Mark Villar said the project will be submitted to the National Economic and Development Authority-Investment Coordination Committee (NEDA-ICC) then to the NEDA Board—chaired by President Rodrigo Duterte—for approval.

Once approved, it will be go through a Swiss Challenge.

All due diligence, including the Swisss Challenge, will be completed within the year, Villar noted.

“We expect to start construction by next year,” Villar told reporters on the sidelines of the awarding ceremony.

MPT South will seek financing from lenders once it gets the final award to proceed with the project, MPT South president and CEO Luigi Bautista said

The CTBEx project is expected to ease traffic congestion along Aguinaldo Highway and the Tagaytay-Nasugbu road.

MPT South chief financial officer Christopher Dizo said the company expects to open at least two sections of the CTBEx by year 2022.

Travel time will be shortened along Governor’s Drive to Nasugbu, where the usual trip of one hour and 42 minutes will be shortened to 44 minutes; and the Sta. Rosa to Tagay route, where the usual travel time of two hours will be shortened to 46 minutes.

Villar said the project will boost tourism in Tagaytay and Nasugbu.

The construction phase will provide 2,500 to 3,000 job opportunities

Metro Pacific Tollways South Management Corp. is the business unit of Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) for projects in southern Luzon.

MPTC is the infrastructure arm of Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Investments Corp. —VDS, GMA News