Public-Private Partnership Center

Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson said the project, which will cut travel time to Cavite from Metro Manila and vice versa, will start the estimated 16-month construction in May.

The P1.92-billion Daang Hari project is part of the Aquino administration’s public-private partnership initiatives. It is only the first project that was successfully awarded and bid out.

Its starting toll rate at the opening year is P17 for Class 1 vehicles, P34 for Class 2 vehicles and P51 for Class 3 vehicles, all inclusive of value-added tax.

“That is less than one liter of gasoline so it would definitely save you gas money, operating costs in vehicles and travel time,” Singson said, referring to the toll rate for Class 1 vehicles, or cars.

The 4-kilometer, four-lane link road project is part of a strategic component of the Metro Manila Urban Expressway Network Master Plan, which is aimed at providing a high-standard highway within a 200-kilometer radius of Metro Manila.

Apart from decongesting traffic in urban and commercial parts in Cavite province, the cities of Las Piñas and Muntinlupa are also expected to benefit from the project.

Originally, the construction for the link road project was scheduled for February this year for Segment 1 and September 2012 for Segment 2.

Segment 1, with a total length of 2.3 kilometers, starts at Daang Hari-Daang Reyna Junction I in Bacoor, Cavite, passing through the National Bilibid Prisons Reservation.

Segment 2, with a total length of 1.7 km, begins at the end point of Segment 1 and ends at the connection with the Susana Heights interchange of the South Luzon Expressway.

The project will be implemented under a build-transfer-operate arrangement under the build-operate-transfer law and its implementing rules and regulations. It will involve a 30-year operation and maintenance concession period, plus a 16-month construction period from 2012 to 2013.

Ayala Corp. won the project with a bid of P902 million, besting the P608-million bid of South Expresslink Corp., a subsidiary of San Miguel Corp.

The Daang Hari project is the first toll-road project of Ayala and the company said it is interested in several projects that will be bid out by the government.

Of the P902 million, Singson said the government will be reimbursed with P382 million for its earlier expenses, while the rest will be booked as government income.

“We welcome new players in the route business in the country. We are opening up new opportunities for toll operators,” he added.