Cavite’s PPP pipelines hit P2 trillion

***Workers continue to operate at a construction site in Santa Cruz, Manila on October 26, 2023.***

MANILA, Philippines — Cavite is receiving more than P2 trillion worth of public-private partnership (PPP) projects over the next 10 years, as the province pushes to widen its funding sources for infrastructure buildup.

In estimates provided by Gov. Jonvic Remulla, Cavite is expected to deliver over P2 trillion in investments through local PPPs within the next decade.

The pipeline includes the $11 billion Sangley Point International Airport (SPIA), the P72 billion Cavite-Batangas Expressway (CBEX) and Nasugbu-Bauan Expressway (NBEX), the Cavite Bus Rapid Transit and the establishment of a Cavite-wide bulk water supply.

Remulla hopes that the completion of these local PPPs will transform Cavite into one of the most viable provinces for investments. The governor said Cavite decided to turn to the PPP scheme to cover for the yearly shortfall in public funds.

In February, the local government of Cavite signed with the SPIA Consortium the joint venture agreement to build and operate an airport in Sangley. The consortium plans to spend as much as $11 billion to develop a gateway that can accommodate up to 75 million passengers a year.

The consortium is made up of Yuchengco-led House of Investments Inc., Virata-owned Cavitex Holdings Inc. and Lucio Tan’s MacroAsia Corp. on the local side.

They will also be backed by the expertise and resources of South Korea’s Samsung C&T Corp., Germany’s Munich Airport International and London-based Arup Group on the foreign end.

Remulla said the local government would only proceed with the next phase of the project once the privatization of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) is completed in 2024.

Remulla said the plan right now is to align the operations of SPIA with NAIA, providing alternative runways where aircraft can land, park and take off. He said NAIA would need a backup airport even if it is rehabilitated by a private concessionaire.

“As is, NAIA is already overcrowded even if you improve the terminals and improve air traffic movement. You will need a new airport, and we are confident that we can do it,” Remulla said.

Apart from this, the local government of Cavite is transacting with Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. and San Miguel Corp. in paving the CBEX and NBEX that will link the province with Batangas.

In August the companies signed a memorandum of agreement to invest P72 billion in putting up two expressways that will run for roughly 88 kilometers between Cavite and Batangas.

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The article was originally published in PhilStar Global and written by Elijah Felice Rosales.