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MABALACAT, Pampanga—Bases Conversion Development
Authority (BCDA) officials kicked off the start of
commercial operations of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac
Expressway (SCTEx) in simple ceremonies held at the Toll
Operations Center Building in barangay Dolores here
Monday.
However,
only 62 kilometers of the Subic-Clark section of the
expressway was opened, as the final stages of
construction along the remaining 32 km on the Clark-Tarlac
section are still ongoing.
Present
during Monday’s ceremonies were Subic-Clark Alliance for
Development Council (SCADC) chairman Secretary Edgardo
Pamintuan, BCDA president Narciso Abaya, Japanese
ambassador Makoto Katsura, Japan Bank for International
Cooperation chief representative Hiroshi Togo, and local
government officials and guests from Central Luzon.
Abaya
said the SCTEx is no ordinary road project, as he
emphasized it is a critical component of the
government’s vision to transform Central Luzon into an
international logistics hub by connecting the free ports
of Subic and Clark and providing a modern toll road that
stretches up to Tarlac.
“Now
that the SCTEx is completed, we await with anticipation
the roar of motor vehicles traversing the 93.7-km toll
road. We are eager to provide our motorists, our
locators and businessmen, our local and foreign
tourists, the safe and convenient motoring experience
that only a world-class toll road can provide,” Abaya
said.
“And
while today marks Day One of the SCTEx commercial
operations, we are confident that in the months and days
to come, the SCTEx will prove its true value to our
people—not as a mere busy expressway but as the
lifeblood of an international hub that holds so much
promise for the nation as a whole,” he added.
Ambassador Katsura said the government of Japan
recognizes the importance of infrastructure improvement
in achieving socioeconomic development of the
Philippines in raising the standard of living of the
Filipino people.
He said
the Japanese government is very pleased to have an
opportunity to assist this infrastructure project, which
is expected to have a significant impact on the
Philippines’ economic growth by creating wider
opportunities for trade, investment and employment.
“This
project will provide the main transportation network
that will further accelerate the economic growth in the
Central Luzon
area and will maximize the potential of Subic and Clark
economic zones as gateways and logistics centers to and
from the Asia Pacific region,” Katsura said.
“As a
long-time partner of the Philippines in its efforts
toward economic development,
Japan
intends to continue extending its assistance to your
nation-building efforts, including efforts to improve
infrastructure, by helping construct efficient road
networks that can bring in better employment
opportunities and improve the overall welfare of the
people,” he said.
Pamintuan said that if there is a “highway to heaven,”
it must be the SCTEx, as he pointed out that the
expressway will surely bring not only Central Luzon, but
the entire country, to the heavenly bliss of progress
and development.
“Ladies
and gentlemen, we are not only making a mere step as we
formally open the world-class SCTEx but are actually
making a quantum leap to progress. With the completion
of the SCTEx, we can now visualize a frenzy of
development that is sure to occur in the towns, cities
and provinces traversed by the highway,” the SCADC
chairman said.
Pamintuan acknowledged the single-mindedness of
President Arroyo, who focused on delivering the
development commitments she made to the people,
notwithstanding the discordant cacophony of political
noise coming from a few sectors, which he described as
apparently wanting to die down the country to permanent
underdevelopment.
“The
SCTEx, in fact, is one of the most significant
components on the menu of development projects initiated
and undertaken by the President to bring our country to
the doorstep and into the ranks of developed nations,”
Pamintuan said.
SCTEx
program manager Robert Gervacio said only 62 km of the
Subic-Clark section starting from the Clark North A
Interchange in this town’s boundary has been opened,
with the remaining 32 km deferred to give way to the
final stages of constructing rice- farms crossings,
aside from the installation of steel posts, cables and
other accessories by the National Transmission Corp.
(Transco) dedicated to the electric-power requirements
of the multibillion-peso investment of Texas Instruments
in the Clark Freeport Zone.
The
opening of the remainder of the SCTEx, from the
Mabalacat boundary here to Tarlac City, has been set for
July this year.
“Actually, the remaining 32-km stretch of the SCTEx to
Tarlac is ready for passage. But the ongoing
construction may pose safety risks, so we decided to
wait out the completion of two major construction
projects—the rice-farms crossings and the Transco lines.
Motorists safety is our paramount concern,” Gervacio
explained.
He said
the rice-farms crossings are overpasses that will allow
farmers to have access to their fields, which were
hitherto contiguous farmlands until SCTEx cut through
them.
“These
farmers are also our stakeholders and they should
continue to enjoy income from their produce. Their
access to their rice farms on the other side of the
expressway through these overpasses will assure that,”
he said.
The
SCTEx assures motorists a travel time of 40 minutes from
Clark to Subic and 25 minutes from Clark to Tarlac. The
Tollways Management Corp., also the operator of the
North Luzon Expressway, has pegged the toll fee at the
SCTEx at an introductory price of P2 per km.
The rate
for Class 1 vehicles that will ply the route from the
Tipo Toll Plaza just outside of Subic to the Clark
Logistics Interchange in Mabalacat is priced at P112,
the Clark North B Interchange P123 and the Clark North A
P123.
Once
commercial operations start for the remaining Clark-Tarlac
section, Class 1 vehicles intending to travel the full
length of the SCTEx from Subic to Tarlac City will pay
the maximum P181 toll fee, Subic to Concepcion P144 and
Subic to San Miguel P172. |
