SMC pays initial P11B for NAIA Expressway project linking Terminals 1, 2

Malacañang on Wednesday confirmed that San Miguel Corp. (SMC) has turned over to the government the P11 billion initial payment for the construction of Phase 2 of the NAIA Expressway project.

"The San Miguel firm won the P11-billion bid last April 15, and a formal notice for award was given by DPWH [Department of Public Works and Highways] to SMC last May 6. Today, SMC through SMC Vertex Tollways Development, Inc., gave the upfront cash payment of P11-billion to DPWH," Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said in a briefing.

Lacierda added that the construction, which will link Terminals I and II, will start this month.

“According to them, some time in June they can start already. This proposed NAIA Expressway has a total length of 7.15 kilometers from its terminus of NAIA Expressway Phase I to its connection with Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard and PAGCOR City. There are two phases: Phase II-A and Phase II-B,” Lacierda said, adding that Phase II of the project has a projected completion date before the Asia Pacific Economic Forum in the third quarter of 2015.
 
“Yung sa Phase II-A will be completed in time for the APEC. This will connect Terminals I and II through an elevated tollway structure to Roxas (Boulevard) and the PAGCOR Entertainment City,” Lacierda said.
 
“There’s another phase which is II-B, which will connect naman from the Skyway to the existing tollways, so ‘yun po ang project doon,” Lacierda said.

Lacierda said Phase 2-A of the PPP project that will connect NAIA's terminals 1 and 2 to PAGCOR Entertainment City is expected to be completed before the staging of the APEC summit in the Philippines in 2015.

The project was auctioned under the Aquino administration's public-private partnership program. — BM/OMG, GMA News