MEGAWORLD Corp. is investing P350 million for transport hubs at the Iloilo Business Park, which is set to open this year.
In a statement Wednesday, the listed property developer said it is expecting to open the Iloilo Business Park Transport Hubs this year, which will be composed of two terminals — each for departures and arrivals.
“We aim to provide world-class and convenient service in land transport for the local and international travelers in and out of Iloilo City. Hopefully, this will serve as a model for other transport hubs in the region,” Megaworld Head of Estate Management Jose Arnulfo Batac said in the statement.
The two 4,000-square meter terminals will be located at the Megaworld Boulevard at the Iloilo Business Park, which sits across the Festive Walk Mall. Aside from its transport purposes, it will serve as a semi-commercial space with its own food park to match the air-conditioned facility.
The project aims to complement the first premium point-to-point (P2P) service in Western Visayas that the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Region 6 is set to launch today.
The P2P service will have its main hub at the Iloilo Business Park, and will have around 106 buses plying routes to the Iloilo Airport, Roxas Airport, Kalibo Airport and Caticlan Airport (Boracay).
“We thank the LTFRB Region 6 for this partnership, and we hope that we are able to contribute to the success of this modernization campaign for the betterment of the country’s transport industry,” Mr. Batac said.
“All of our townships, especially those in urban centers, serve as convergence points of motorists and commuters. Thus, we integrate transport hubs in our developments to meet the transport needs of the local community,” he added.
Megaworld secured the government’s approval of the transport hub project in March, wherein an ordinance released at the time, the Iloilo government said the hubs may be used for free by public utility jeepneys that cover the city loop and taxis for picking up and dropping off passengers.
The Andrew L. Tan-led firm is allocating P65 billion for capital expenditures this year, which will fund its residential, office and mall projects across the country.
Its attributable profit grew 16% in the first three months of 2019, driven by an increase in revenues from its residential, leasing and hotel businesses. — Denise A. Valdez
