By: Denise A. Valdez, as seen on https://www.bworldonline.com/c5-south-link-phase-1-to-open-in-2nd-quarter/ March 28, 2019 10:18 pm

METRO Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) said a portion of the C5 South Link Expressway is scheduled to open by the second quarter, which will connect C5 road to Merville in Parañaque City.

MPTC President Rodrigo E. Franco said on Wednesday that the 2-kilometer Segment 3A-1 of the 7.7-kilometer expressway is now nearing completion.

“Here in South Luzon, we have the C5 South Link project, of which the first section we expect to open in two months’ time,” he announced during the groundbreaking program for the Cavite-Laguna Expressway.

The P10-billion C5 South Link project was awarded by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to Cavitex Infrastructure Corp. (CIC), the operator of the Manila-Cavite Expressway (CAVITEx). The C5 South Link aims to connect Taguig to Parañaque, Las Piñas and Cavite through CAVITEx, with a driving time of about 30 minutes from the former duration of one hour.

The complete length of the toll road is scheduled for completion by 2020. This covers the segment from C5 to Merville, then Merville to Sucat, then Sucat to the R1 Expressway.

Meanwhile, Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) Executive Director Abraham P. Sales also announced on Thursday that the Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3 (Skyway 3) of San Miguel Corp. is expected to be completed by end-2019.

“They committed to complete the Buendia to NLEx (North Luzon Expressway) segment by end of this year. That means that by first quarter of next year, it will be opened,” he said at an event in Pasay City.

The 18.38-kilometer Skyway 3 is an elevated expressway that will start in Buendia, Makati, traversing Sta. Mesa, Manila and running to the Balintawak exit of NLEx. This is expected to reduce travel time end-to-end to 20 minutes from the former two hours.

MPTC is the tollways unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC). MPIC is one of three Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., others being PLDT, Inc. and Philex Mining Corp. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has an interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.