Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) said Tuesday it remains interested in acquiring the government’s stake in the Manila-Cavite Expressway (Cavitex) to settle an ongoing dispute with its partner, the Public Estates Authority Tollway Corp. (PEATC), a unit of the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA).
MPTC president and chief executive Rogelio Singson said in a virtual news conference that the company repeatedly offered to buy out the PRA’s residual interest in Cavitex for P2.5 billion.
“The last offer was made in 2023 and that’s the fourth offer. The PRA board never acted on those offers,” he said.
MPTC chief finance officer Christopher Daniel Lizo said the P2.5-billion buyout is a “standing offer” to the government.
“Unfortunately, they never replied to the offer. But if they did, of course we are willing to negotiate with them on the offer. Right now, we don’t know if the offer is acceptable,” Lizo said.
“This is something that we want to pursue to resolve the problem,” he said.
Singson rejected the government’s proposal to adjust the current revenue-sharing agreement to 40:60 in their favor, citing the Cavitex project’s ongoing development.
“The agreement can only be revised after all project loans are fully paid,” he said, highlighting MPTC’s need to recoup its investments.
Lizo confirmed a total investment of P25 billion with a remaining loan of P7 billion. An additional P4 billion is needed to complete the project.
Under the joint venture with PEATC, Cavitex Infrastructure Corp. is responsible for the design, finaning and construction of MCTEP.
The MCTEP project covers R1 (7.5 kilometers), R1 Extensions (8.6 km.) and Cavitex-C5 (7.7 km.) or a total of 23.8 km.