Ilonggo Senator Franklin Drilon is no longer expecting that the construction of the proposed Panay-Guimaras-Negros bridge will start before the end of President Rodrigo Duterte’s term.
“Unfortunately, while it was included as among the ‘Build, Build, Build’ projects of this administration, after four years, it is still [on] the drawing board,” Drilon said during an investment forum in Iloilo City on Wednesday, Dec. 9.
According to the senator, the P27.1-billion bridge project has yet to move beyond its feasibility study stage.
“Last we heard, the Chinese government withdrew from funding the project for what reason, I am not informed. Our government is now talking to the Korean government as the source of funding,” said Drilon.
In an interview over radio station Bombo Radyo on Nov. 25, Department of Public Works and Highway (DPWH) Mark Villar said the feasibility study of the 32-kilometer bridge by the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korean Eximbank) was already completed.
The project will be built in two phases – 14.3-kilometer Panay-Guimaras link and 5.7-kilometer Guimaras-Negros link.
The Iloilo-Guimaras bridge will start in Leganes, Iloilo and will end in Buenavista, Guimaras while the Guimaras-Negros bridge will start and end in San Lorenzo, Guimaras and Pulupandan, Negros Occidental, respectively.
Drilon vowed to continue pushing for the construction of the bridge to “address the lack of connectivity to transport agricultural products between [the three major islands in Western Visayas].”IMT
