The newly completed 8.2-kilometer Subic Freeport Expressway (SFEX) eyed to accelerate business activities and facilitate the flow of goods and services between the economic zones in Clark and Subic was inaugurated on Friday.
Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Mark Villar led other officials during the formal opening of the PHP1.6-billion expressway that will provide relief to some 10,000 motorists daily.
“Natutuwa ako at sama-sama tayo ngayon sa isa pang milestone ng Build, Build, Build program ni President Duterte. Alam ninyo po patapos na po ang administrasyon ni Pangulong Duterte pero ako’y natutuwa dahil talagang nakita ko ang bunga ng kanyang programa. Siya po ang architect ng Build, Build, Build at ang utos niya po sa amin ay gawing komportable ang buhay ng mga pinoy and I can see it now (I am happy and that we are together for another milestone of the Build, Build, Build program of President Duterte. You know that the administration of President Duterte is coming to an end, but I am happy because I saw the results of his program. He is the architect of Build, Build, Build and his order to us is to make the lives of Filipinos comfortable and I can see it now),” Villar said in his official social media account.
Other officials who attended the event were Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Department of Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, SBMA chairman Wilma Eisma, Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC) president Jose Ma. Lim, Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC) president Rodrigo Franco, and NLEX Corporation president J. Luigi Bautista.
Also present were Bataan 2nd District Rep. Jose Enrique Garcia; Hermosa, Bataan Mayor Antonio Joseph Inton, and MPTC spokesperson Romulo Quimbo Jr.
Roque thanked the Metro Pacific Group for its support in the construction of the expressway which also boosts Subic’s competitiveness as an ideal shipping gateway for business in Central and North Luzon.
“Maraming salamat po sa Metro Pacific Group dahil inyong partisipasyon, nagawa itong expressway na walang gastos po ang sambayanang Pilipino. Mabuhay po kayo (Many thanks to Metro Pacific Group for your participation in making this expressway free of charge for the Filipino people. Long live),” he said.
Bautista, for his part, said that “we at MPTC and NLEX continue to stand with the government in its commitment to improve the lives of the Filipino through infrastructure projects such as this. May this expansion also expand the horizons by which we achieve economic development and prosperity as a nation.”
Meanwhile, Eisma said the completion of the SFEX expansion project will help in easing further traffic flow of goods and people to and from the Freeport.
“The opening of the Subic Freeport Expressway is a big signal not just for Subic but for the country that we are on business, we are back on business, or rather we never went out of business and we’re always be here,” he said.
SFEX, operated by NLEX Corp., a toll road subsidiary of Metro MPTC, connects the Subic Bay Freeport to the 94-kilometer SCTEX, which links with the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway. (PNA)
