Aquino attends toll road event in Quezon after collapse rumors

President Benigno Aquino III arrives at Tiaong, Quezon for the briefing on the Slex Toll Road 4 (TR4). KRISTINE SABILLO/INQUIRER.net

TIAONG, Quezon – President Benigno Aquino III on Monday attended his first public event, two days after Malacañang denied his rumored collapse.

Aquino attended the briefing on the P13.8-billion South Luzon Expressway (Slex) Toll Road 4 (TR4) project and other road projects in Southern Luzon at Barangay Lalig, Tiaong, Quezon.

BACKSTORY: South expressway to curl to Lucena

With him was Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, Quezon Representative Vicente Alcala, Tiaong Mayor Ramon Preza, Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) Executive Director Edmund Reyes, San Miguel Corporation chief operating officer and South Luzon Tollway chairman Ramon Ang, and Citra Metro Manila Tollways Corporation (CMMTC) president and chief executive officer Shadik Wahono.

The Slex-TR4 project will extend the expressway from Sto. Tomas, Batangas to Lucena, Quezon through the construction of a 58-kilometer, four-lane toll road. It is supposed to cut the travel time between the two provinces from four hours to just one hour.

The government hopes the shortened travel time will help boost commerce and tourism in Regions IV and V.

The first section of the project will be from Sto. Tomas to Macban, Laguna (10.51 kilometers), the second from Macban to San Pablo, Laguna (12.2 km), the third from San Pablo to Tiaong (8.1 km), the fourth from Tiaong to Candelaria, Quezon (14.4 km) and the fifth from Candelaria to Lucena (12.31 km).

Target dates

Target completion date for the first section is in 2017. The whole project should be completed by 2019.

Malacañang on Saturday dismissed a rumor that Aquino lost consciousness on Friday evening.

The rumor came from a TV reporter’s tweet that he received information from a source that the President had collapsed.

Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda immediately addressed the issue by quoting Aquino who said that “No such thing” happened.

READ: Palace denies rumor Aquino ‘collapsed’

Later that day, the President called for a meeting with Palace reporters but the informal gathering was cancelled about twenty minutes after it was announced.

READ: Amid rumored collapse, Aquino calls for, then cancels meeting with press

The rumor was eventually quelled when Aquino was spotted by some reporters in Quezon City, having dinner with friends.

READ: Now, Aquino happy with ‘short hair’

He said he was just as surprised when he received Lacierda’s text about the rumor.-Kristine Angeli Sabillo