Ayala Land waives grantor payment in Taguig terminal project

January 17, 2018

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has managed to save the government P9 billion in the construction of the Taguig Integrated Terminal Exchange (ITX) project as the private partner, Ayala Land Inc. (ALI), agreed to waive the annual grantor payment

DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade said he sat down with top honchos of ALI to forgo the P277 million payment, which is supposed to be paid yearly for 35 years.

"Let's find ways how we can stop the practice and paradigm of government paying the private sector royalty grounds as they operate terminals. Under the contract, the government should pay P 277 million for the next 35 years," Tugade said.

Tugade said DOTr has engaged in a discussion with Ayala Land since last year, where they were able to come up with a win-win solution that will benefit the Filipino people.

"Two things will be done -- the P277 million per year for the next 35 years will no longer be paid, saving the government, this country, no less than P9 billion cashout annually... And two, from the start of its commercial operation, until the end of the concession agreement, ALI will share two percent of their income from the commercial spaces in favor of the government," Tugade said during the groundbreaking of the Taguig ITX, one of the big-ticket infrastructure projects of the Duterte Administration aimed at  decongesting traffic in EDSA.

Ayala Land Inc chairman Fernando Zobel de Ayala , Ayala Land vice chairman and director Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala graced the ceremony.

The Taguig ITX project, done with Ayala Land Inc., will be a 6-storey building on a 5.57 hectare property inside the FTI compound which would house passenger concourse, a centralized ticketing area and several business and retail establishments.

The project will also have a provision for 1,200 public utility buses and vehicles’ bays and parking.  Upon its completion, Taguig ITX is expected to house around 4,000 buses and accommodate 160,000 passengers daily. It will also feature a pedestrian walkway connection to the PNR FTI station and the proposed subway system.

Taguig ITX will cater to all provincial buses plying the south of Luzon, Visayas and Mindandao destinations.

The Taguig ITX construction would start by the 2nd half of 2018 and is expected to start operation by 1st half of 2020. DMS