MPT chides PEATC’s CAVITEX stonewalling
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The refusal of state-run PEA Tollway Corp. to properly discuss issues involving the Manila-Cavite Expressway (CAVITEX) is impacting the motoring public, according to a top Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) official.
In an interview with Straight Talk, an online show of the Daily Tribune, MPTC president and CEO Rogelio Singson said his office is open for discussion but that PEATC had failed to make a move.
“I don’t want to make a big deal out of this. I do not want to tell them the deficiencies of their filings, they should know it by now. As I have said, I want a peaceful resolution of this. They have refused, they have not reached out to us and we continue to send them our offer to follow what is provided for in the agreement,” Singson said.
Singson warned that if the parties failed to resolve the issue plaguing the expressway, the MPTC would be forced to establish an arbitration panel to intervene.
“We will create an arbitration panel following the standards of arbitrations before. We did our calculations, we are confident that we are more efficient in operating it,” he said.
“They are not answering to us, all they are saying is they want their 60 percent now. The 90-10 sharing continues until we finish the project and we recover our investments,” he added.
The PEATC has filed a petition for mandamus before the Court of Appeals to regain its mandate to operate, maintain, and collect tolls from CAVITEX. They cited issues with the existing revenue-sharing scheme.
Established by the PRA, the PEATC operates under a joint venture deal with MPTC’s Cavitex Infrastructure Corp. (CIC), which is the concessionaire responsible for the tollway’s financing, construction, and design.
Currently, the CIC and PRA have a 90-10 revenue-sharing scheme in favor of the CIC.
However, the PEATC claims that this should have already transitioned to a 60-40 split in favor of the government when the operations and maintenance agreement expired in 2021.
PEATC argues that the 60-40 revenue sharing scheme should have taken effect much earlier, when Phase 1 of the CAVITEX was completed.
According to the PEATC, the current 90-10 revenue-sharing structure causes the government to lose an estimated P1 billion annually.
