2013 Special: Road building plays catch-up

By Marlet D. Salazar
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December 27,2013

At the start of the year, the government approved 11 infrastructure projects worth over P100 billion, including a key project connecting the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) with the Southern Luzon Expressway (SLEX) and the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CLEX).

During the middle of this year, DOTC announced that it was to fast-track P82 billion-worth of infrastructure projects under the government’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program with the aim of completing them before the elections in 2016. It is also hastening the bidding of approved projects and those which are still in the “study” stage.

However, even with all these infrastructure projects, the Philippines continues to lag behind other Asian countries when it comes to road and public works development.

With Filipinos enjoying better spending power, the number of vehicles on the road continues to increase as manufacturers make it more affordable for ordinary people to own a car. It is now the norm for dealers to offer down payments of less than P100,000.

However, there is no sufficient road expansion or even reconstruction projects that take into consideration the consequential increase in vehicles. There really is no reason therefore to be surprised at the worsening traffic situation in Metro Manila and even in the adjacent growth regions.

While the main culprit focuses on the growing number of vehicles traversing major roads, there is added pressure from the mushrooming of small, medium, and big establishments in Metro Manila. These are aside from the construction of new malls and residential buildings. Similar developments are also happening in nearby cities. Add the number of vehicles to the humongous number of people on the streets every day, and you get a major logjam.

No wonder that the city no longer has any breathing space.

There is a study on how many billions of pesos the country is losing every day from lost productivity caused by traffic jams and inefficient public transportation. According to the National Economic Development Authority (Neda), the Philippines is losing P2.4 billion every day in potential income because of traffic.

The Metro Manila Development Authority has devised countless of ways and schemes to solve this but some have succeeded, and some have not. According to an earlier news report, the last major rehabilitation program of Metro Manila happened 20 years ago.

In earlier statements addressing the issue, the government said that “The government targets to pave all national roads by 2015-2016.” The infrastructure projects approved this year, together with efforts to improve the existing road structures, should be the answer to this problem of heavy traffic.

In a report, “Philippines Infrastructure Report Q4 2013,” written by Fast Market Research, an online aggregator and distributor of market research and business information, “the Philippines continue to exhibit conditions that are ideal for construction activity-conducive monetary environment, political stability and robust government spending-and these conditions are showing signs that they could continue into 2014.”

The report further stated the major developments in the country’s infrastructure industry.

There is an effort to improve the road infrastructure system in the country as evidenced by proposals to connect the two major highways in Luzon: NLEX and SLEX. In November, the Citra Central Expressway Corp. of San Miguel Corp. was confirmed for the start of the P26.5-billion expressway project which is known as the NLEX-SLEX connector road. The contract is already on Stage 3, and work for the 14.2-kilometer road system should have started this year, with the first section (Buendia-Nagtahan) expected to open in early 2016.

Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) is up for expansion, and DOTC had selected seven groups to bid. MCIA is one of the major points of entry for foreign tourists and expats. The Fast Market Research report said that the new international passenger terminal building is expected to accommodate 8 million passengers a year. Upon its completion, the old terminal will serve domestic flights.

In news reports, the Manila North Luzon Tollways Corp. allotted P6 billion for the Port Area link to finance the 8-km extension of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) to the port area in Manila next year. The NLEX-Harbor Link, which starts at the Smart Connect Interchange, involves two segments that will connect MacArthur Highway and C-3 road to NLEX in Valenzuela City and Mindanao Avenue link.

Late this year, the government also made a study on the $2-billion Philippine National Railways (PNR) integrated Luzon project. According to the Bicol Regional Development Council (RDC), it will work with the PPP Center and help provide data for the study. The PPP Center tapped CPCS Transcom Ltd., a Canadian consultancy firm, to undertake the project study, starting with the Bicol section.

San Miguel Corp. (SMC) Optimal Infrastructure Development was awarded the P15.52-billion Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Expressway Project, 7.75-km, four-lane elevated expressway that would connect NAIA terminals 1 to 3 to Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation’s (Pagcor) Entertainment City in Parañaque City.

Even with challenges in all forms of transportation, the government is still bullish about the tourism industry. In fact, it announced that it would spend P29 billion on tourism infrastructure this year and next. This is to help connect tourism spots to major roadways and improve accessibility to entice more tourists.

Hopefully, by now the Clark Terminal is already up and running after its P360-million expansion was announced in the middle of this year. The project aims to double the capacity of the existing terminal to 4-5 million passengers from 2-2.5 million.

Earlier this year, SMC said that it was ready to start the 23-km MRT 7 construction. The $1.2-billion Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT 7) would run from San Jose del Monte station in Bulacan to SM City station in North Avenue to link with the Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT 1) and MRT 3.

In October this year, the Department of Budget and Management reported that public spending for infrastructure increased by 25.68 percent (P208 billion) in the first 10 months from the P165.5 billion compared to the same period last year. This committed spending is long overdue, and while the benefits may only be felt in the next years to come, the Filipino can be comforted by the fact that something is being done, even if it’s a little too late.

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