MPTC eyes green financing for CALAX

MANILA, Philippines — Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) is aiming to be the first in the country to tap green financing for a toll road project.

MPTC chief finance officer and senior executive sponsor for sustainability Christopher Lizo said the company is planning to avail of green financing over the medium term for the Cavite–Laguna Expressway (CALAX) project.

“We have financing in place already for the completion of CALAX. The idea is at some point to consider green financing to refinance our loans in CALAX,” Lizo said in a virtual briefing yesterday.

“Of course with green financing comes the obligation to keep or maintain certain standards in terms of our commitment to make the road sustainable. So it’s a medium term aspiration. It’s not something we can do tomorrow,” he said.

Lizo said MPTC would have to complete first the construction of CALAX, a 45-kilometer high-speed road network connecting the two provinces of Cavite and Laguna.

“Second, we need to meet our sustainability objectives, and when we are ready we will consider looking at green financing to refinance our existing loans. It’s a medium term aspiration. All of our sustainability programs have to be in place first,” he said.

MPTC subsidiary Metro Pacific Tollways South Management Corp. yesterday signed a partnership agreement with the United States Agency for International Development’s Sustainable Interventions for Biodiversity, Oceans and Landscapes (SIBOL) project to promote its sustainability efforts to turn CALAX into a “green highway.”

Through the partnership, MPT South and USAID SIBOL, a natural resources management and biodiversity conservation project, will collaborate on a biodiversity program that will improve natural resources management.

These include tree planting activities to be undertaken in CALAX, advanced science-based decision making, fostering community engagement and promoting good environmental practices, and transforming CALAX’s biodiversity program as an income-generating project of communities.

“We are grateful to USAID SIBOL for allowing us to tap into their pool of knowledge and expertise so that we can make science-based and nature-centered decisions as we move toward our goal of turning CALAX into a green highway,” MPT South president and general manager Roberto Bontia said.

The agreement with MPT South is in line with USAID SIBOL’s goal of improving biodiversity conservation by working toward voluntary industry standards and replicating the rewilding model in similar projects.

“Protecting the environment, natural resources, and ensuring their capacities to sustain life for generations to come should be a collective effort. That is why we are grateful for this partnership with MPTC as it speaks of the goodwill of the private sector in collaborating with other stakeholders and taking tangible steps to promote environmental sustainability, biodiversity conservation, and climate resiliency in the Philippines,” USAID SIBOL chief of party Ernesto Guiang said.

The P52.5 billion CALAX targets to serve around 45,000 motorists upon its full completion by 2023. Scheduled for completion by the third quarter of next year is the CALAX Cavite segment.

The expressway currently operates from Binan, Laguna up to the east of Silang, Cavite.

“We want to make CALAX as the pioneer in terms of doing green financing here in the country. It’s something we think we can do in the next three years as we complete CALAX. So all of these initiatives obviously contribute to our aspiration to have the very first green financing activity here in the country for a toll road project,” Lizo said.