MANILA, Philippines – Access to the 18-kilometer Skyway Stage 3 elevated expressway will remain free until February 1, Ramon Ang, San Miguel Corporation (SMC) president and chief operating officer, announced.

In a post on Facebook, Ang said the toll-free access to Skyway 3 was extended to allow motorists to enjoy “seamless driving” over Metro Manila’s congested streets.

The SMC earlier announced that the toll on the elevated expressway is free until January 29.

“All access points and seven lanes in select areas will be available to motorists starting January 15 still for free – extended until February 1 – so that our motorists can experience and enjoy seamless driving along this engineering marvel over Metro Manila’s congested streets,” Ang said.

The SMC said the entire seven lanes of Skyway 3 will be fully opened to vehicles starting Friday, January 15.

In preparation for its full opening, the toll road was temporarily closed to motorists from 10 p.m. on January 13 until the whole day of January 14 for inspection, set-up, and staging of the official opening.

In a separate statement, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said it has conducted an audit on Skyway 3 to ensure that all systems are in place for the safety of road users.

“Safety audit, as well as stakeholders’ feedback is necessary as road traffic measures must adopt to fit with the current road situation,” DPWH Secretary Mark Villar said.

Four of the seven lanes of the toll road was soft-opened to public last December 29.

Although partially-opened, Skyway Stage 3 ramps are still being completed by San Miguel Corporation thru CITRA Central Expressway Corporation.

All ramps are expected to be completed and opened in 2021, according to Villar.

Once fully-completed, motorists will be able to utilize all the Skyway Stage 3 ramps at Buendia, Quirino, Plaza Dilao and Nagtahan, Aurora Boulevard, E. Rodriguez, Quezon Avenue, Sgt. Rivera, and the NLEX interchange.

Skyway 3 connects the South Luzon Expressway and NLEX and will serve as an alternative to EDSA with its access points that traverse Makati, Manila, San Juan, and Quezon City.

MANILA, Philippines – The entire stretch of Skyway Stage 3 will be closed on Wednesday night, January 13 until January 14 in preparation for its full opening on Friday, private proponent San Miguel Corp. (SMC) announced.

In a statement Wednesday, the SMC said the elevated expressway will be closed to vehicular traffic starting at 10 p.m. on Wednesday and will last the whole day of January 14.

A full inspection, set-up and staging of the opening, and other pre-opening preparation activities are also scheduled, the SMC added.

The entire 18-kilometer elevated expressway will be opened to regular vehicular traffic starting 5 a.m., January 15.

“We ask for the kind understanding of motorists, as we prepare to officially open Skyway 3,” Skyway management said.

“Following the opening, motorists will be able to experience the benefits of all seven lanes and all the features of this game-changing expressway that will reduce travel time from SLEX to NLEX and vice-versa, to only 30 minutes. It will also help decongest traffic on EDSA and many parts of Metro Manila,” it added.

Skyway 3 connects the South Luzon and North Luzon Expressways and will serve as an alternative to EDSA with its access points that traverse Makati, Manila, San Juan, and Quezon City.

The toll road is expected to cut travel time between the country’s two main expressways to just 20 minutes from the 3 hours at present.

Four of the seven lanes of the toll road was soft-opened to public last December 29.

“Skyway 3 will remain toll-free until January 29, and we look forward to welcoming our motorists and letting them experience seamless travel,” the SMC said.

MANILA, Philippines — Fourteen engineers of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) have been relieved from their posts due to their alleged involvement in corruption, according to DPWH Secretary Mark Villar.

Villar said this is following the order of President Rodrigo Duterte after he named several DPWH officials allegedly involved in corruption.

“Actually iyong binanggit po ni Presidente na-relieve na and mayroon kaming ongoing complaints sa aming task force against corruption (Those mentioned by the President had already been relieved from their posts and we have ongoing complaints reported in our task force against corruption),“ he said.

Duterte mentioned the names last December during his public address. This was after the investigation conducted by the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) on the alleged corruption in the DPWH. —AAC (with reports from Dante Amento)