Diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corporation (SMC) will shell out P168 billion for the expansion and upgrade of its tollway and highway projects.
“We look at infrastructure as an opportunity to participate in the growth of our country. Quality infrastructure will change and impact lives,” SMC president and chief operating officer Ramon S. Ang said.
SMC, through South Luzon Tollways Corporation (SLTC), will be spending P13.1 billion to construct the four-lane, 58-kilometer Southern Luzon Expressway-Toll Road 4 (SLEX-Toll Road 4). Once complete, the toll road will cut to about an hour the usual four-hour travel time between Sto. Tomas, Batangas and Lucena, Quezon.
The project will also have safety features including guard rails, median barriers, well-lighted toll plazas, and CCTV cameras. SLTC aims to finish the first section of the SLEX-Toll Road 4 from Sto. Tomas to Makban, Laguna by 2017, and the remainder of the project by 2019.
Ang said the tollway will “help encourage new investments across these regions” as land values will appreciate and new businesses will emerge.
Aside from this, SMC will also pour P26.5 billion into the Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3 project via Citra Central Expressway Corp., P24 billion into the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway through Philippine Infrastructure Development Corp, and P15.5 billion into the Ninoy Aquino International Airport expressway project through Vertex Tollways Development Inc.
The conglomerate is also eyeing other transport infrastructure projects such as the Cavite-Laguna Expressway project, as well as the Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike project through San Miguel Holdings Corporation in partnership with Aboitiz, Ayala Land, Megaworld, and SM Prime.
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