In a statement, the BCDA said that landslide occurred along Barangay Pabanlag, Floridablanca, on September 8 at around 2 a.m. in the height of extraordinary heavy rains in the area.

Clearing operations are now ongoing and are expected to be completed within the day. The BCDA and its interim service provider, Tollways Management Corporation (TMC), have also fielded personnel to make sure that motorists are being warned about the situation.

Further, the BCDA is hiring the services of an independent geotechnical engineer to review the situation and provide a long-term holistic solution.

BCDA is looking at the warranties of the contractors and consultants based on their contracts.

In the meantime, motorists are advised to take the necessary precautions and observe the proper speed limit while driving along the SCTEx. Rey Garcia

The supposed “rationalization” currently being proposed by the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) on the rules that would govern the placement, installation and location of outdoor advertising, more popularly known as billboards, along the 92-kilometer stretch of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) is a fitting prelude to the greatest crime against nature that could ever happen on this side of the earth.

The BCDA and the Department of Public Works and Highways have started to draft said rules and presented the idea during a “consultative” meeting held recently in Clark.

In the surface, the move appears to be laudable, as there seemed to be some semblance of foresight on the part of agencies in charge of this world-class superhighway.

But in real terms, these agencies have actually started to position into the minds of the general public, particularly the stakeholders of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Corridor, the idea that erection of billboards and other commercial signage will definitely be allowed very soon.

In this country, once government and local leaders start to verbalize such highly abused words like “rationalizing,” synchronizing, safeguarding, etc., we the citizenry should better brace ourselves for the worst to come.

More often than not, a deal has already been struck and the next thing you know, it is already being implemented, and the people involved will just parry whatever public outcry it may result into, and the rest is history….

They will just let their highly paid lawyers to take charge, as they laugh their way to the bank, so to speak.

During that “consultative meeting,” on SCTEx signs and signboard structures, BCDA officials, led by a certain Engr. Tiotuyco, tagged along DPWH Director Emmanuel Cuntapay of the National Building Code. Cuntapay proved to be inefficient in eradicating those humongous billboards in the streets of Metro Manila despite direct orders from no less than President Arroyo.

The public-works official simply reasoned out that the existing National Building Code could not allow them (DPWH) to do just that, unless and until the code is amended. Ergo, he can also cite that reasoning once giant billboards begin to mushroom along the SCTEx.

Going back to the issue at hand, during that meeting in Clark on August 12, the issue of allowing these “monsters,” called outdoor advertising structures, has become obvious, if not devious.

Both officials declared that locations will be identified where service providers can put up signs and structures according to specifications detailed in the supposed rules for billboards and signages along the expressway.

Tiotuyco even expressed his observation that, in certain places, billboards “may even help add to landscape aesthetics, and provide illumination as well for night drivers.”

There you go…. Right after professing “environmental concerns and care, the BCDA messenger clearly sent the message across that locations of billboards and other related signs and structures “will be identified, prior to allowing such structures.”

Outdoor advertising is a multibillion-peso industry. And these vultures in the advertising sector, including the advertisers themselves, are now hovering around the scenic SCTEx.

Like hungry eagles, they are now preying on the otherwise serene and quiet nature of the superhighway.

The people of Central Luzon should unite against this evil plot.

At the same time, local government leaders should never allow themselves to be a part of this crime against nature and should even take the lead in curbing the plot of imperial Manila to duplicate the rotten streets and avenues that they now have.

Our paper will continue to advocate for a total ban of billboards along the SCTEx. We will continue to drumbeat and herald every step of the way in whatever way we can to deflect any moves concerning this evil plot that would definitely lead to the rape of the superhighway.

Moreover, providing for better infrastructure to and from Central Luzon and onward to Northern Luzon can actually help broaden San Miguel’s market and improve access to it. In terms of logistics and transportation, having better roads will make it easier for goods and people to go around.

At the rate San Miguel is investing in business other than its core of food and beverage, it is quite likely the Cojuangco-chaired company will soon be truly diversified as a global business conglomerate.

Locally, San Miguel is also into power through distributor Manila Electric Co.; telecommunications via Liberty Telecoms; oil refining and retailing through Petron Corp. It has also reportedly expressed interest in the potable water source development project in Laiban Dam in Tanay, Rizal.

Abroad, San Miguel has been reportedly offered by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. a stake in PT Adaro Energy, an Indonesia-based integrated coal mining and trading company.

Why toll roads? In San Miguel’s case, to sell its consumer goods, it doesn’t necessarily have to own the roads going to its market particularly in North Luzon. But in terms of additional revenue source, a toll road is a massive cash generator daily. And this makes the possible investment in the Tarlac-La Union highway very interesting. If San Miguel is just sitting on cash anyway, then it might as well invest in a toll road.

The Tarlac-La Union Expressway involves the construction of an 88.5-km, four-lane expressway from La Paz, Tarlac, to Rosario, La Union. Construction reportedly started in September and is targeted for completion in 2012. Of the total project cost, 57 percent or P8.59 billion will be financed through loans, and 24 percent or P3.68 billion from equity. The remaining 19 percent, about P2.91 billion, will be provided by the government in the form of a subsidy.

One news report quoted Isidro Consunji, president of DMCI Holdings, as saying that San Miguel was already doing a due diligence on the road project. “I think SMC is interested in getting 49 percent, with an option to go up to 51 percent,” he said. Consunji’s company leads the consortium of local private contractors offering to build the expressway.

An interesting twist in this tale is a possible competition to San Miguel, courtesy of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., which recently completed its purchase of a controlling stake in Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC) from the Lopez group for P12.2 billion. Through an older firm, Metro Pacific’s Manny Pangilinan is already associated with the Metro Manila Skyway project. But the latest acquisition from the Lopez group invariably makes his group the undisputed biggest toll roads operator in the country.

MNTC was a gem of a purchase. It was previously granted the contract to build, operate and maintain the 83.7-km North Luzon Expressway (Nlex) and the 8.5-km Subic-Tipo Expressway; and to build and operate the proposed link of C-5 to the Manila Port Area that will cross the Nlex near the Valenzuela interchange.

Also, with the purchase, Metro Pacific gained the right to participate in the operation of the SCTEx segment that directly links Subic Bay Freeport and the Clark Economic Zone; as well as participate in the concession to build the Tarlac-La Union Expressway.

Just recently, San Miguel already won over Pangilinan’s group in bidding for a substantial stake in the Lopezes’ Manila Electric Co. And this might just prompt San Miguel’s way to leave the toll roads business to new toll road king Manny Pangilinan.

The Tarlac-La Union Expressway project may yet be a strategic piece of the Pangilinan initiative. For sure, it will complement Metro Pacific’s control of toll roads in Central and Northern Luzon. Moreover, it will also complement Pangilinan’s reported interest in bidding for the planned $3-billion high-speed rail project that will connect the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) in Parañaque City.

As noted by Victor Jose Luciano, Clark International Airport Corp. president and CEO, Pangilinan’s advantage is his ability to provide the right of way for the proposed high-speed rail from Caloocan City to Magallanes in Makati City. And with this right of way, he says, Naia can finally be connected to Clark. As for the right of way from Caloocan City to Clark, the matter is nearly settled, he adds.

One can only hope that Pangilinan seriously considers building the proposed railway. But in case he changes his mind, maybe San Miguel can consider the same. After all, its benefits to the economy can be tremendous. And a new public-private partnership on a major infrastructure project such as this is also a good way to pump-prime a struggling economy.

Marvin A. Tort is a veteran business journalist. He is a former Managing Editor of BusinessWorld and also a former chairman of the Philippine Press Council. He is presently into various businesses including gaming and IT, as well as advertising, and business and communication consulting. He also writes a twice-weekly column for the BusinessMirror.