MANILA, Philippines — Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) is on its way toward recovery as traffic congestion on its tollways has been improving from the lows reached at the height of the pandemic where strict quarantine restrictions were implemented.
MPTC chief information officer Carlo Cagalingan said the company has been seeing an increase in traffic across its domestic tollways.
“It’s returning to pre-pandemic levels so I believe the easing of quarantine restrictions enable the mobility of our motorists,” Cagalingan said.
MPTC’s roster of operational domestic tollways include the North Luzon Expressway, Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway, Manila-Cavite Expressway and Cavite-Laguna Expressway.
The average daily vehicle entries on four tollways saw a slight increase of 491,096 in the first quarter of 2021 compared to 479,860 in the same period last year.
Overall, MPTC’s system-wide vehicle entries, including its road networks abroad, fell to an average of 787,911 per day in the first quarter compared to 844,368 in the first three months of 2020.
MPTC’s net income dropped by 15 percent to P788 million during the three-month period from last year’s P924 million.
Cabalingan said they are optimistic about the future, with the company’s projects seen helping drive the country’s economic recovery.
“We in Metro Pacific have always been saying that connectivities are the key to economic recovery. So whether it’s roads or bridges, if we can connect communities, that’s the best way to go for our economy,” he said.
MPTC president and chief executive officer Rodrigo Franco earlier said the company would spend over P30 billion in capital expenditures this year as it ramps up construction of vital infrastructure projects which are set for completion in the next two years.
Construction works on the company’s major toll projects are continuing, Franco said.
MPTC said it expects to spend an additional P25 billion should it secure the Cavite-Tagaytay-Batangas Expressway project following a Swiss Challenge expected this year.