BY SECRETARY MICHAEL LLOYD DINO
Presidential Assistant to the Visayas
AS WE BEGIN the last three remaining years under the leadership of President Rodrigo Duterte, let us take note of the projects that he poured into Visayas during his first three years.
Last 2018, the Bohol (Panglao) airport which cost P7.4 billion and the new Mactan Cebu International Airport Terminal 2 in Lapu-Lapu City costing P17.52 billion were inaugurated.
Without a doubt, the Build, Build, Build Program under the Duterte government has spurred the economy of the Visayas. Around P123 billion worth of projects are being now undertaken by the Duterte administration in the Visayas.
One of these projects is the P7.9 billion Leyte Tide Embankment Project which covers 27.3 kilometers from the shore of Barangay Diit in Tacloban City to Tanauan town both in Leyte. This project aims to protect the province from future storm surges to avoid a repeat of the Yolanda tragedy which occurred in 2013.
Other current projects of the Duterte administration include:
* The Bacolod Economic Highway which is a 21.8-kilometer, four lane highway, inclusive of three bridges and two-way bike lane which will serve as an alternative circumferential road that would bypass Bacolod City Central District.
* The 73.75-kilometer Metro Cebu Highway connecting Danao City in the north to Naga City in south Cebu.
* Maintenance and development projects in Bacolod, Iloilo airports and the Dumaguete airport as well as the extension of the Siquijor airport.
* The Central Spine Roro Alignment Project, which will align the road and sea linkages through roll-on, roll-off from Batangas Port to Cagayan de Oro city.
* Modernization of public hospitals such as the Gov. Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital in Bohol worth P2 billion and in Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center in Leyte worth P2.3 billion.
Let us not forget that Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center was the first government hospital to offer Malasakit Center, a project under the Duterte administration that gives aid to poor and marginalized Filipinos allowing them to avail of medical services free of charge.
As of today, we have now reached the 13th Malasakit Center in the Visayas.
I am also very excited with the Cebu Integrated Inter-Modal Transport System that will boost the Cebuano’s mobility.
We have seen the implementation of our Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program such as the electric jeepneys in Lapu-Lapu City and Tacloban City, and the modern bus-jeep (Beep) in Cebu City.
Soon we will see these in other major cities in the Visayas.
President Duterte has done so much in the Visayas and I am confident that in the coming three years, the national government will continue to pour in more projects in the Visayas.
You have my trust Visayas, I promise that I will be working hard in making Malacañang near to us and that the best of Duterte’s administration is yet to come./PN
