NOTWITHSTANDING calls by Philippine and foreign business groups for
the government to put public-private partnership (PPP) arrangements back
at the forefront of its infrastructure drive, state financing will
continue to be a preferred mode, the head of the Department of Finance
(DoF) told reporters on Thursday last week.
Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said he met with heads of some conglomerates last month to discuss this concern.
“I just laid it down to them,” he said, noting some PPP projects have
been delayed “because you guys were arguing… who was going to make the
profit.”
“And in the meantime when you were arguing about that, there is no growth and I think that is unfair to the Filipino people.”
Among those taken off the PPP pipeline were plans to develop the New
Bohol (Panglao), Davao, Iloilo, Laguindingan and Bacolod airports, which
would have been the second airport offer under this scheme after the
P17.52-billion Mactan-Cebu International Airport Passenger Terminal
Building project that was awarded in April 2014.
Mr. Dominguez said the government’s “hybrid” mode — involving state
funding or foreign aid for the construction stage and private sector
participation in operation and maintenance — has proven faster, citing
progress of the Clark International Airport Expansion Project, the first
project under such financing scheme. Groundbreaking is expected in
December after the project was approved in July by the National Economic
and Development Authority board. Operation of the new facility is
expected to start in the first quarter of 2020.
“We have no time. We are very far behind in infra(structure) and we
have to move faster. We have proven we can start a project in 18 months
so that is the benchmark the private sector has to meet,” Mr. Dominguez
said.
“Our experience with PPP — and I am not inventing this — it’s very
slow. How many PPP projects were actually started by the last admin —
half a dozen. They had six years to do it,” he added.
“Half a dozen in six years and the average took 30 months and one of
them took 50 months. Fifty months from conception to the start — I am
not talking about completion.”
source: Businessworld
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Sunday, October 29, 2017
MPTC says road works on NLEx, SCTEx halted until after ASEAN
METRO PACIFIC Tollways Corp. (MPTC) said roadworks along the North
Luzon Expressway (NLEx) and Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) will
be halted ahead of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
Summit in Clark, Pampanga in November.
“Meron kasi kaming mga road expansions tsaka mga expansion sa interchanges, tulad ng sa Mabiga, Sta. Ines, made-delay yun ng mga two weeks because of the ASEAN kasi walang construction (We have some road expansion and expansion of interchanges, like in Mabiga, Sta. Ines. These will be delayed for around two weeks because of the ASEAN, there will be no construction),” MPTC President and Chief Executive Officer Rodrigo E. Franco told BusinessWorld last week.
MPTC started shutting down mainline roadworks at NLEx and SCTEx on Oct. 27 to make way for the heavy traffic expected during the All Saint’s Day holiday, when Filipinos flock to their home provinces to visit the graves of deceased relatives.
Various ASEAN activities and meetings will be held in Clark, Pampanga from Nov. 10 to 14.
The suspension of roadworks at NLEx and SCTEx will run until Nov. 16, when the ASEAN events end.
Around 264,500 to 299,000 vehicles are expected to traverse NLEx during peak periods, 15-30% more than the usual daily traffic.
Meanwhile, suspension of road works in Cavite Expressway (CAVITEx) will run from Oct. 27 to Nov. 2. However, MPTC expects traffic at CAVITEx to lessen during the holidays because users of the expressway are mostly commuters.
MPTC has allocated P3.7 billion for enhancement projects in the expressways, in a bid to boost service capacity, facilitate faster transactions, as well as to support the government’s traffic decongestion efforts.
In NLEx, for instance, the company has already finished construction of 64 new lane-kilometers between Sta. Rita, Guiguinto, Bulacan, Sta. Ines, Mabalacat City, and Pampanga. MPTC has also built more toll lanes in Balintawak, Mindanao Avenue, and Meycauayan toll plazas to speed up transactions.
The San Fernando City Interchange will also be enhanced with the addition of two new bridges as separate carriageways. A right-turning ramp to Mabalacat-Magalang Road in Pampanga will make Sta. Ines a full interchange.
For SCTEx, the company will upgrade the Mabiga interchange by removing a U-turn slot from SCTEx to McArthur Away, turning it into a full diamond interchange. MPTC will also bring Tipo Exit Toll Plaza’s total toll booths to six from the current four toll lanes.
Meanwhile, CAVITEx will be adding new expressway lanes on northbound and southbound directions along the R1 Coastal Road, as well as a flyover at the Pacific Drive.
MPTC is the tollways arm of Mr. Pangilinan’s holding firm, Metro Pacific Investment Corp. (MPIC). MPIC is one of three key Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being Philex Mining Corp. and PLDT, Inc. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.
source: Businessworld
“Meron kasi kaming mga road expansions tsaka mga expansion sa interchanges, tulad ng sa Mabiga, Sta. Ines, made-delay yun ng mga two weeks because of the ASEAN kasi walang construction (We have some road expansion and expansion of interchanges, like in Mabiga, Sta. Ines. These will be delayed for around two weeks because of the ASEAN, there will be no construction),” MPTC President and Chief Executive Officer Rodrigo E. Franco told BusinessWorld last week.
MPTC started shutting down mainline roadworks at NLEx and SCTEx on Oct. 27 to make way for the heavy traffic expected during the All Saint’s Day holiday, when Filipinos flock to their home provinces to visit the graves of deceased relatives.
Various ASEAN activities and meetings will be held in Clark, Pampanga from Nov. 10 to 14.
The suspension of roadworks at NLEx and SCTEx will run until Nov. 16, when the ASEAN events end.
Around 264,500 to 299,000 vehicles are expected to traverse NLEx during peak periods, 15-30% more than the usual daily traffic.
Meanwhile, suspension of road works in Cavite Expressway (CAVITEx) will run from Oct. 27 to Nov. 2. However, MPTC expects traffic at CAVITEx to lessen during the holidays because users of the expressway are mostly commuters.
MPTC has allocated P3.7 billion for enhancement projects in the expressways, in a bid to boost service capacity, facilitate faster transactions, as well as to support the government’s traffic decongestion efforts.
In NLEx, for instance, the company has already finished construction of 64 new lane-kilometers between Sta. Rita, Guiguinto, Bulacan, Sta. Ines, Mabalacat City, and Pampanga. MPTC has also built more toll lanes in Balintawak, Mindanao Avenue, and Meycauayan toll plazas to speed up transactions.
The San Fernando City Interchange will also be enhanced with the addition of two new bridges as separate carriageways. A right-turning ramp to Mabalacat-Magalang Road in Pampanga will make Sta. Ines a full interchange.
For SCTEx, the company will upgrade the Mabiga interchange by removing a U-turn slot from SCTEx to McArthur Away, turning it into a full diamond interchange. MPTC will also bring Tipo Exit Toll Plaza’s total toll booths to six from the current four toll lanes.
Meanwhile, CAVITEx will be adding new expressway lanes on northbound and southbound directions along the R1 Coastal Road, as well as a flyover at the Pacific Drive.
MPTC is the tollways arm of Mr. Pangilinan’s holding firm, Metro Pacific Investment Corp. (MPIC). MPIC is one of three key Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being Philex Mining Corp. and PLDT, Inc. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.
source: Businessworld
Friday, October 20, 2017
Competition Commission approves CGCC’s capital stock acquisition of GGDC Holdings
THE
acquisition of the entire outstanding capital stock of GGDC Holdings by
Clark Global City Corp. (CGCC) was approved on Thursday by the
Philippine Competition Commission.
In a statement sent to reporters late Thursday, the competition watchdog said it approved the transaction that would allow CGCC, an affiliate of Davao-based tycoon Dennis A. Uy’s holding firm Udenna Corp., to completely acquire GGDC Holdings.
“The acquisition by (CGCC) of shares in GGDC Holdings does not result in a substantial lessening of competition in the relevant market, since it does not appear that the merged firm has the ability to engage in foreclosure, and in any case, there appears to be sufficient post-acquisition competitive restraint from other market participants,” the PCC said in a decision dated Oct. 19.
The PCC is mandated to review all mergers and acquisitions exceeding P1 billion to ensure fair competition among market participants.
At present, The Port Fund L.P. is the owner of GGDC Holdings.
GGDC Holdings holds a majority stake in Global Gateway Development Corp., a company established in 2008 to develop and operate Global Gateway Logistics City, which sits on a 177-hectare property inside the Clark Civil Aviation Complex, Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga.
The logistics city is estimated to cost around $200 million in horizontal infrastructure and $3 billion at full build-out, according to government website investphilippines.gov.ph.
The city will be divided into four zones: a logistics park allotted for warehousing, distribution, and light manufacturing operations; a business park for office buildings; an aero park for research and development as well as centers of higher learning; and a town center for retail and commercial needs. – Arra B. Francia
source: Businessworld
In a statement sent to reporters late Thursday, the competition watchdog said it approved the transaction that would allow CGCC, an affiliate of Davao-based tycoon Dennis A. Uy’s holding firm Udenna Corp., to completely acquire GGDC Holdings.
“The acquisition by (CGCC) of shares in GGDC Holdings does not result in a substantial lessening of competition in the relevant market, since it does not appear that the merged firm has the ability to engage in foreclosure, and in any case, there appears to be sufficient post-acquisition competitive restraint from other market participants,” the PCC said in a decision dated Oct. 19.
The PCC is mandated to review all mergers and acquisitions exceeding P1 billion to ensure fair competition among market participants.
At present, The Port Fund L.P. is the owner of GGDC Holdings.
GGDC Holdings holds a majority stake in Global Gateway Development Corp., a company established in 2008 to develop and operate Global Gateway Logistics City, which sits on a 177-hectare property inside the Clark Civil Aviation Complex, Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga.
The logistics city is estimated to cost around $200 million in horizontal infrastructure and $3 billion at full build-out, according to government website investphilippines.gov.ph.
The city will be divided into four zones: a logistics park allotted for warehousing, distribution, and light manufacturing operations; a business park for office buildings; an aero park for research and development as well as centers of higher learning; and a town center for retail and commercial needs. – Arra B. Francia
source: Businessworld
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