by Elijah Felice Rosales - The Philippine Star
August 11, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) will prioritize the completion of some of its toll projects first before it decides on its plan to raise a minimum of P30 billion from the stock market.
MPTC intends to complete the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX) and the airport road of the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) before finalizing plans to offer its shares to the public.

Jose Maria Lim, MPTC President and CEO, said the delivery of the two projects would raise investors’ appetite for shares in the company, particularly as both tollways respond to surging traffic in their respective areas.
Further, MPTC is working on reducing debts to ensure it is fiscally ready to file an initial public offering (IPO). It owes as much as P80 billion and is working with banks for the refinancing of up to P25 billion.

“The need for the infusion of equity is still there. We have prioritized debt service arrangements for the maturities that are going to be expected in the next 12 months,” Lim said.
“At the same time, we are trying to complete remaining sections of roads in the south, especially CALAX and CCLEX, because those would greatly improve prospects for listing,” he added.
Initially, CALAX was eyed for completion this year, but construction has slowed recently in light of the bad weather, forcing MPTC to delay opening to early 2026.
For 2025, Lim said the best MPTC can open for CALAX is up to Governor’s Drive, leaving it with two phases to finish, namely, Open Canal and Kawit.
CALAX will stretch for 44.58 kilometers between Mamplasan Rotunda and Kawit, Cavite, connecting to the Manila-Cavite Expressway, also operated by MPTC. The tollway, once completed, is projected to serve as many as 95,000 motorists daily.
In March, MPTC also entered into a memorandum of understanding to study the feasibility of the Lapu-Lapu Expressway (LLEX), a complementary project to CCLEX. The LLEX is designed to bridge Cebu City and the Mactan-Cebu International Airport via CCLEX.
Given this, the LLEX is expected to raise vehicle traffic in CCLEX, which is struggling to attract more motorists due to lack of airport access.
On top of this, Lim said MPTC is proceeding with its proposal to turn its projects into barrierless tollways, but this may take some time to make way for regulatory approval, with implementation seen by 2027.