MANILA – By 2023 the bridge connecting Iloilo and Guimaras would have been complete already, according to the Department of Public Works and Highway (DPWH).
Construction may start by the second quarter of 2021, Secretary Mark Villar told the Senate Committee on Finance during the deliberation of its proposed 2020 budget on Monday.
Ilonggo senator Franklin Drilon urged the DPWH to speed up the project which was committed by the Duterte administration in 2016, citing the Iloilo Strait motorboat mishaps in August that killed 31 people.
“This is already the fourth year of the Duterte administration. It was committed on the first year. We already lost 31 lives to a tragedy. I hope we do not wait for another 31 lives to be lost again before we start the construction of this very important bridge,” Drilon said.
Villar said they were looking to complete the feasibility study for the bridge by next month.
“What is important is the feasibility study. Once it is completed we can proceed with the detailed engineering,” he said.
Villar assured Drilon the proposed Iloilo-Guimaras-Negros Island bridges “remain to be part of the priority economic bridges by the Duterte administration.”
DPWH undersecretary for planning and public-private partnership Maria Catalina Cabral told Drilon they would immediately submit the feasibility study to the National Economic and Development Authority’s Investment Coordinating Council for approval, after which the Department of Finance will consider the funding.
“The construction will start about second quarter of 2021. The construction of the Iloilo-Guimaras link will take up to two years, sometime in 2023, while its Phase 2 that will link Guimaras to Negros will be completed by 2024,” Cabral said./PN
