By Jenniffer B. Austria

METRO Pacific Investments Corp. still wants to invest in the North Harbor but doubts it could put in money to extend the North Luzon Expressway, its top official said yesterday.

Metro Pacific, the local unit of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co., would be willing to invest in the port facility once the government had agreed to privatize it, Metro Pacific chairman Manuel Pangilinan said.

?Once the issue is resolved, the company is ready to make an investment in North Harbor and the Harbour Centre,? he said.

Metro Pacific and Harbour Centre, a company owned by the Romeros, formed a consortium in 2007 to bid for the port, but that was derailed when other bidders were disqualified and the port?s unions demanded that the government hold a new bidding.

The Philippine Ports Authority then suspended the port?s privatization, forcing the consortium to ask a Manila court to order the port regulator to award the port to it.

Metro Pacific had earlier said it was setting aside P1 billion to invest in the port, but yesterday it said it was having second thoughts about investing to build an 88.5-kilometer extension to the North Luzon Expressway.

That extension would take the road to Rosario in La Union from Capas in Tarlac, but Metro Pacific president Jose Ma. Lim said extending the road would only be financially viable up to Gerona, also in Tarlac.

?The traffic is only sustainable up to Gerona, but if we have to make a commitment to invest in the project, we have to build all the way to Rosario,? Lim said.

?It is a bit difficult to make the commitment without knowing what type of financing will be made available by the government.?

As a result, Metro Pacific would invest only in the extension to Gerona, Lim said.

Food and beverage giant San Miguel Corp. had earlier expressed interest in investing in the P15-billion extension to La Union after Metro Pacific said it doubted it could join the project financing.

San Miguel president Ramon Ang said the Consunjis? DMCI Holdings Inc. had invited the company to take a look at the project.

DMCI holds 34-percent stake in the consortium that won the concession to build the extension.

The consortium?s other shareholders are EEI Corp., R.D. Policarpio and Co. Inc., D.M. Wenceslao and Associates Inc., J.V. Angeles Construction, J.E. Manalo and Co. Inc., New Kanlaon Construction Inc. and Rockford Development.