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STATE-OWNED Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA)
has inked a P4-billion loan agreement with three
financial institutions and an investment bank that will
serve as the government’s counterpart funding for the
completion of the 93.7-kilometer Subic-Clark-Tarlac
Expressway (SCTEx) project.
The BCDA
said the P4-billion syndicated term loan facility will
come from the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP),
Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), Metropolitan Bank
and Trust Co. (MBTC) and First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC).
The LBP
Trust Banking Group, under the agreement, will serve as
the loan agent, monitoring BCDA’s compliance with the
representation and warranties, and facilitate the
payment of interest and principal to the lenders.
BCDA
Chairman Aloysius Santos said the signing of the
P4-billion loan facility with Metrobank is proof that
government and private sector can work together to
create a major infrastructure for the economic and
social development of the country.
The P4
billion will finance BCDA’s equity counterpart of the
SCTEx project.
Narciso
Abaya, BCDA president and CEO, said the strengthening of
the peso against the yen in recent months prompted them
to secure the loan as they are now getting less proceeds
from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC)
loan that they earlier acquired to partly finance the
project.
LBP
senior vice president Cecilia Borromeo sid the SCTEx
project is in line with LBP’s mission to spur
countryside development as “many of our countrymen will
benefit from this highway.
Metrobank executive vice president Vicente Cuna Jr.,
meanwhile, cited the importance of the P4-billion
transaction primarily because of the SCTEx project’s
developmental nature and its impact on the economic
growth of the Central Luzon Growth Corridor.
He noted
that Central Luzon has one of the highest potentials in
terms of attracting direct foreign investments.
The
construction works at SCTEx are funded through a
P21-billion loan from the Government of Japan through
JBIC.
In
September the National Economic and Development
Authority approved a supplemental loan worth ¥18
billion, roughly P6.725 billion, to fund mainly the
price escalation of the SCTEx project due to the
increase in construction materials.
As of
November 14, 2007, the SCTEx is already 91-percent
complete.
The
Subic-to-Clark segment (Package 1) is 88-percent
complete, while the
Clark-to-Tarlac segment (Package 2) is 96-percent complete.
Abaya
said the SCTEx is estimated to be completed by the first
quarter of 2008.
At 93.7
km the SCTEx is the country’s longest expressway. Once
completed, it will interconnect with the newly built
seaport in Subic and the Diosdado Macapagal
International Airport in Clark to facilitate the
transport of goods and services and people in a globally
competitive environment.
BCDA
said travel time from
Clark to Subic
will be cut down to 30 minutes, while that of Clark to
Tarlac will take only 25 minutes.
A total
of 11 interchanges will be constructed, including the
additional three interchanges approved by President
Arroyo this November.
The
eight original interchanges are the Tipo Junction,
Dinalupihan Interchange, Clark Logistics Interchange,
Spur/North Luzon Expressway Interchange, Clark North
Interchange, Conception Interchange, San Miguel
Interchange and La Paz Interchange. The three additional
interchanges are the Clark Logistics-2 Interchange, the Porac
Interchange in Dolores and the Basa Interchange in
Floridablanca.
Thirty-three bridges will also be constructed. One of
the four major bridges, the Sacobia-Bamban River Bridge,
is the longest at 1.16 km. The three others are the
Pasig-Potrero
River Bridge (720 m), the Porac River Bridge (400 m) and
the Gumain River Bridge (318 m). Other structures to be
constructed as part of the expressway are 44 underpasses
and 255 culverts. |
