“SA ATIN ngayon lang, medyo surprise, pero magandang balita. Ang MVP Group ay maglalagay sila ng investment na may halaga na P120 billion… Maglalagay sila ng elevated na daan mula Balintawak hanggang Bocaue. Hanggang Bocaue ang aabutin.”
So, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. disclosed during the opening of NLEX-C5 Northlink Segment 8.2 Section 1A in Valenzuela City on Oct. 29.
He said the MVP Group would undertake the P120-billion project linking Balintawak in Quezon City to Bocaue, Bulacan in coordination with the SMC Group, following his call for the two business groups to collaborate to expand the country’s road network, provide commuters with alternative routes, and improve travel conditions.
“Pinakiusapan ko sila na magtulungan sila para madagdagan naman natin yung dinaadaanan. At iba ang magiging karanasan, ang experience, na na-experience para sa mga commuters. Napakalaking investment na gagawin ng MVP Group. At siyempre, kasama nila ang SMC Group dahil kailangan nilang mag-coordinate,” Marcos Jr. furthered.
The president called the P120-billion investment as good news for commuters, emphasizing that the elevated road would provide an alternative route alongside the existing highway.
“Very good news ito para sa ating continuing construction para mapaganda ang daloy ng traffic sa atin, pagpapabilis at pagbaba ng transport cost, at magiging mas maginhawa ang paglalakbay ng ating mga workers,” enthused Marcos Jr.
The president’s good news of the Balintawak-to-Bocaue elevated road validates the longstanding advocacy of Pampanga business leaders – notably Rene G. Romero from his time as chairman of the Pampanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry and private sector representative at the Regional Development Council-Central Luzon, to now senior fellow of the Pampanga Business Circle — for the extension of the Metro Manila Skyway System up to Bocaue at the North Luzon Expressway.
The president’s enthusiasm for the proposed elevated road mirrors Romero’s zeal for a skyway to eliminate recurring traffic gridlocks especially near the Meycauayan and Marilao stretch, and occasionally at the Philippine Area of NLEX. A skyway will lower logistics costs, cut travel time, and provide smoother transit for commuters and cargo moving between Metro Manila and Central and Northern Luzon.
That skyway, Romero called on the NLEX in March 2025, had become more “imperative” in the wake of the “monstrous traffic gridlock” caused by the closure of some lanes in the wake of the heavy damage to the Marilao Bridge caused by a trailer truck earlier that month.
Serendipitously, Romero’s call was addressed during the Discuss Wid Us forum of the Central Luzon Media Association-Pampanga at the Prism Lounge of Hotel Widus on March 27, 2025.
Asked if NLEX operator Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. was taking “serious consideration” on the advocacy of business groups led by Romero, NLEX senior traffic manager Robin Ignacio disclosed that a 19-kilometer skyway extension under study extending the Metro Manila Skyway to the Tambubong, Bocaue Exit of the North Luzon Expressway was “nearing its stage of completion.”
One year and seven months after, Marcos Jr. makes the concrete affirmation. To the Pampanga business groups advocacy’s validation.
Comes now the waiting for the skyway’s actualization.