LRMC: Fare hike to be used for LRT-1 extension

The Light Rail Manila Corporation (LRMC), the operator of the Light Rail Transit line 1 (LRT-1), has insisted the need for a P5 increase for LRT-1 as the budget would be used for the line extension.

LRMC president Juan Alfonso said that the fare increase would assure the construction of LRT-1 extension up to Niog, Bacoor City in Cavite.

“A P5 increase in LRT-1 fare will assure the construction of its extension to Sucat, Las Piñas and Bacoor, allowing at least 300,000 of residents each day to get to and from home in just minutes from Baclaran without traffic,” Alfonso said in a statement.

The LRMC filed a petition before the Department of Transportation in May asking to increase its fare by P5 to P7.

Currently, the fares of the LRT-1 range from P15 to P30 depending on the distance traveled by the train.

READ: LRT 1 operator asks DOTr for P5 to P7 fare increase

Alfonso also noted that if approved, the travel time from Niog in Bacoor City to Roosevelt station in Quezon City would be down to one hour and 10 minutes.

“We can virtually guarantee these travel times because we are traffic free. And we are investing P5 for every P1 revenue to ensure that LRT-1 is efficient, trouble-free, and also clean,” Alfonso said.

The LRT-1 has not increased its fares since the LRMC took over as its operator in September 2015.

However, under the agreement of the government and LRMC, the railway management is allowed to have a fare hike every two years. /je

Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1010820/lrmc-fare-hike-to-be-used-for-lrt-1-extension#ixzz5LQ4T5bTV
Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook

Support for Philippine Airport Development authority grows

The support for the House leadership’s bill creating the Philippine Airport Development Corporation Act snowballed, with various government agencies rallying behind its passage.

House Bill 7306, the proposed “Philippine Airport Development Corporation Act”, which was principally authored by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, got the nod of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

The manifestation of support was made during the meeting of a technical working group of the House Committees on Government Enterprises and Transportation last week.

The TWG, headed by Bohol Rep. Rene Relampagos flexed its muscles to fine tune the bill seeking to create the PADC as the airport authority to ensure and accelerate development of air transport facilities and services.

“The planned devolution aims to delegate the operating powers of the CAAP as well as abolish the authorities managing international airports, namely the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC), Subic Bay Metropolitan Department Airport Department, and the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA),” Relampagos said.

“This will allow CAAP to reinforce its primary mandate and focus on regulatory functions based on Republic Act 9497 and prevent conflict of interest as it currently regulates and operates airports,” he pointed out.

CAAP Air Traffic Controller Chief Marlene Singson expressed CAAP’s all-out support to the bill.

“We welcome this House bill, creating an airport development corporation, because it will streamline and strengthen the airport operations in the Philippines. In so doing, CAAP would be able to concentrate on its primary mandate, which is the regulation of the aviation industry,” she said.

“We actually appreciate the efforts of the members of Congress, which is always mindful of the need to improve the aviation sector,” she added.

Lawyer Rhea Joy Gonzalez of CAB vowed CAB’s willingness to cooperate, as the bill will ensure the efficiency of airports.

For his part, DFA Director Edgar Tomas Auxilian said: “improving the existing air transport services is also a way of promoting the Philippines.”

According to Relampagos, the TWG fine-tuned the language and essence of some provisions of the bill to avoid potential confusion and ambiguities.

He said they want to ensure that the PADC serves its purpose of upgrading, operating, and maintaining existing and still to be developed airports.

During the TWG meeting, they agreed to adopt Sections 6 and 8 of HB 6327 or the “Philippine Airports Management Authority Act”, authored by Rep. Johnny Pimentel on Police Authority and the Board of Directors, respectively.

The TWG and CAAP, in consultation with Governance Commission for Government-owned and controlled corporations (GCG), will formulate a section on transitory provision that will establish a body to oversee the transition period and the transfer of properties, among others, Relampagos said.

Co-authors of the bill include Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas, Minority Leader Danilo Suarez, Catanduanes Rep. Cesar Sarmiento, and Pampanga Rep. Aurelio Gonzales Jr.

DPWH says Laguna side of Calax finished by December

The Department of Public Works and Highways expects to complete the construction of the Laguna side of the Cavite-Laguna Expressway Project by December this year.

“I am very happy with the progress of CALAx, we are expecting that the Laguna Segment will substantially be completed by December 2018. This segment spans from the Laguna Boulevard to Mamplasan, Binan and travel time will now be under 10 minutes,” DPWH Secretary Mark Villar said.

“Cutting travel time by half will bring ease of travel to about 7,300 vehicles daily that would normally travel 20 minutes from Laguna Boulevard to Mamplasan, Binan,” he added.

The Laguna segment, costing an estimated P10 billion, comprises  seven kilometers of the 45-km stretch of the Calax costing P22 billion.

Villar said the agency already secured an Environmental Compliance Certificate  from the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources for the Cavite side of the Calax project, which would pave the way for the construction of the project by third quarter of this year.

“We have already started the acquisition of right-of-way, as early as this year,  we’ve identified the areas. We will be able to start the civil works this year,” he added.

 “We are pleased that our project is moving as it should given the available construction areas turned over to us. We are also pleased that our project is able to create jobs in the surrounding towns and cities,” MPCALA Holdings Inc. president and chief executive Luigi Bautista said.

“As a socially responsible corporate citizen, we would like to add value with our presence, not just in terms of bringing solutions to the traffic congestion but as a source of livelihood for the province of Laguna and Cavite.”
“The Laguna segment has brought 820 jobs and estimated to increase to 1,200 as the construction progresses,” he added.

MPCala is a subsidiary of the Metro Pacific Tollways South Corp., a unit of Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., the infrastructure arm of Metro Pacific Investments Corp.

MPCala tapped DMCI Consunj Inc. to build the Laguna side of the project, and Leighton Holdings of Australia the construct the Cavite side.

Work on Calax seen on track

BIÑAN, Laguna—The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) aims to deliver a portion of the crucial right-of-way for the construction of the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (Calax) by the third quarter this year, Secretary Mark A. Villar said on Saturday.

His agency is making progress with the acquisition of the needed easement for the Cavite side of the Calax, as it recently received the environmental compliance certificate, Villar said.

For now, it is just “waiting for the writ of possessions from the courts” to start the delivery of the right-of-way to MPCALA Holdings Inc., the concessionaire for the Calax.

“We have already started the acquisition of right-of-way, as early as this year. We’ve identified the areas so it’ll be easy. We will be able to start the civil works this year,” he said.

Saturday saw Villar inspecting the progress of the Calax in Laguna, a portion of which is aimed at being completed in the next six to nine months.

The segment here spans from the Laguna Boulevard to Mamplasan, Biñan, and travel time is projected to be cut in half to 10 minutes, with 7,300 vehicles seen benefiting from that per day.

Stretching for 7 kilometers, the segment costs about P10 billion. The contractor for the segment, DM Consunji Inc., broke ground for the Laguna side in April.

DPWH pushes for CALAX partial opening by Dec.

THE Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is pushing for the completion the Laguna segment of Metro Pacific group’s Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX) project by December despite construction delays caused by heavy rains.

Public Works Secretary Mark A. Villar told reporters after an inspection of the site on Saturday the December target is “doable.”

“There are challenges like the weather. But so far they have been resolved… We expect to fast-track the construction of CALAX, Mr. Villar said.

The president of MPCALA Holdings, Inc. told reporters in early July the construction of segments 7 and 8 of CALAX, which are on the Laguna side, is now 45% complete, though delays are expected.

“The target as you remember is December 2018 for segments 7 and 8. But because it’s raining every now and then, the most likely completion date would be first quarter next year,” MPCALA President Luigi L. Bautista said on July 5.

He added, “Very soon we will be launching the impoundment works. The impoundment works are critical there because it’s already raining. We have to build the impoundment so we can complete the carriageway.”

Mr. Bautista noted, however, that the original timetable is to have the CALAX completed by December 2020, so the expected delay is still within those bounds.

The Laguna segment of CALAX stretches from Laguna Boulevard to Mamplasan, Biñan. It is expected to cut travel time between the two points to 10 minutes from the current 20 minutes.

As for the Cavite segment, Mr. Villar said construction is expected to begin by the third quarter after an environmental compliance certificate (ECC) was issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

“We’ll start initial construction this year. As soon as we get the ECC, we’ll begin construction. We’re just waiting for the writ of possession from the courts,” he said.

He added that the right-of-way for the Cavite segment is expected by mid-2019.

The Cavite segment of CALAX covers the 28-kilometer, four-lane road with bridges, interchanges, toll plazas and ancillary facilities.

The CALAX project is a 45.29-kilometer four-lane toll road that will connect the South Luzon Expressway (SLEx)-Mamplasan interchange to the Cavite Expressway (CAVITEx).

MPCALA Holdings, the tollways unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), is the government’s private concessionaire for CALAX.

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. — Denise A. Valdez

DPWH determined to complete CALAx project by 2020 deadline

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is determined to complete the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAx) project by the planned 2020 deadline.

Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark A. Villar said the construction and acquisition of road right-of-way for CALAx are being fast tracked to meet the targeted deadline.

The CALAx is a 45.29-kilometer, four-lane toll road which starts from Cavite Expressway (CAVITEX) in Kawit, Cavite and ends at the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX)-Mamplasan Interchange in Biñan, Laguna with eight interchanges and one main toll barrier.

It also has a bridge component of 12,207 meters inclusive of 4,618 meters of viaduct.

The project is being implemented by the private concessionaire MPCALA Holdings Inc. of the Metro Pacific Group under public-private partnership program of the government.

Just recently, Villar himself checked the progress of works on the ongoing infrastructure project.

To date, the DPWH chief gave an update about CALAx, in which “96 percent of letter offer have been served to the landowners, 81 percent of the signed Deeds of Absolute Sale (DOAS) and expropriation cases have been submitted to the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), and 21 percent of the permits to enter/writ of possessions have been issued.”

“The construction of the 18-kilometer Laguna segment which starts from Aguinaldo Interchange and ends in Mamplasan Interchange of SLEX in Biñan, Laguna is 13.8 completed while the 27-kilometer Cavite Segment will soon begin,” he said.

Villar has been going around public works projects nationwide to personally inspect them. The latest of which also inclded the ongoing improvement project of the Pasig-Marikina River Channel.

The Pasig-Marikina River Channel Improvement Project (PMRCIP) aims to mitigate the massive flooding caused by the overflowing of Pasig-Marikina River resulting in severe damages to lives, properties and infrastructure in Metro Manila.

Such project comprises of the “construction and installation of revetments, parapet walls, dike embankment, sluice structures, bridge foundation protection and even riverbank excavation, dredging works, and drainage improvement along the priority critical sections of the Pasig-Marikina River,” Villar said.

The Phase III of the project has been completed and is composed of Lower Marikina River Improvement (Napindan Channel to Downstream of Mangahan Floodway) and the remaining works from the Pasig River Improvement (Delpan Bridge to Napindan Channel).

“The completion of Phase III decreased flood inundation by 18 percent as well as reduced flood damages by P14.3 billion. It also reduced the number affected population by 0.2 million,” he said.

Construction of Cavite-Laguna Expressway on schedule

Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar expressed optimism that the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAx) project will be completed as scheduled in 2020 as he personally checked yesterday the progress of construction.

The CALAx is a 45.29-kilometer four-lane toll road that starts from CAVITEX in Kawit, Cavite and ends at the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX)-Mamplasan Interchange in Biñan, Laguna with eight interchanges and one main toll barrier.

It also has a bridge component of 12,207 meters inclusive of 4,618 meters of viaduct.

The project is part of the Public-Private Partnership Program of the government and is being implemented by private concessionaire MPCALA Holdings, Inc. of the Metro Pacific Group.

Villar said during the inspection the construction and acquisition of road right-of-way (ROW) for CALAx are being fast tracked to complete the project by the planned 2020 deadline.

“To date, 96 percent of Letter Offer have been served to the land owners, 81 percent of the signed Deeds of Absolute Sale (DOAS) and Expropriation Cases have been submitted to the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) and 21 percent of the Permits to Enter/Writ of Possessions have been issued,” Villar noted.

“The construction of the 18-kilometer Laguna segment, which starts from the Aguinaldo Interchange and ends in Mamplasan Interchange of SLEX in Biñan, Laguna is 13.8 percent completed while the 27-kilometer Cavite Segment will soon begin,” he added. – With Evelyn Macairan

Read more at https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/07/15/1833657/construction-cavite-laguna-expressway-schedule#76HA0mquJAFKqq6z.99