ILOILO City – With over one year left in the Duterte administration’s term, the construction of the Panay-Guimaras-Negros (PGN) bridges will be left to the next administration, according to Ilonggo senator and Senate minority leader Franklin Drilon.
“There is simply no time. The Panay-Guimaras-Negros is an undelivered commitment to the people of three islands of Western Visayas – Iloilo, Guimaras and Negros. Its construction will be left to the next administration,” said Drilon, who has been pushing for the immediate implementation of the 32.47-kilometer bridges that will connect the three islands.
Drilon met with Bases Conversion and Development Authority president Vince Dizon, who is President Rodrigo Duterte’s adviser on flagship programs and projects, to discuss the status of the PGN bridges.
The project is still in the feasibility-study stage, according to Drilon.
A supplemental feasibility study has to be undertaken for the detailed engineering design stage.
The supplemental feasibility study is supposed to be completed by the first week of February 2021.
On Feb. 13, Public Works secretary Mark Villar announced on Facebook that, “We have already completed the prefeasibility study for the 32.47-kilometer Panay Guimaras Negros bridge project. We are now on the final stages of the feasibility study.”
He, however, gave no project time line.
Drilon said he is unhappy about the sluggish implementation of the PGN bridges, which is included in the Duterte administration’s Build-Build-Build program.
After four years, it is still on the drawing board, he lamented.
“The PGN bridges are a dream of the people of Western Visayas. The lack of inter-connectivity is a stumbling block to the region’s growth and development. We must address the lack of connectivity to transport our agricultural products between Panay, Guimaras, and Negros,” Drilon said.
PGN bridges are divided into two sections: the 13-km Panay-Guimaras Bridge and the 19.47-km Guimaras-Negros Bridge.
The indicative cost for the Panay-Guimaras segment is P65.7 billion and P123.82 billion for Guimaras-Negros segment, said Drilon citing the report of Dizon.
The government is looking at Korean government for possible funding, he added, after China backed out.
Drilon said the bridge will improve inter-connectivity and provide safer and faster transportation of passengers and goods and services.
Citing his meeting with Dizon, the civil works and construction will happen in 2023 to 2031 with the completion of the first segment by around 2027, Drilon said.
The feasibility study was completed in September 2019 and the National Economic Development Authority – Investment Coordinating Committee approved it in December 2019.
The Western Visayas Regional Development Council endorsed the implementation of the project in stages and endorsed the implementation of segment one or the Panay-Guimaras segment.
With the implementation of the project left to the next administration, Drilon said the implementation of the PGN bridges will play a significant role in the 2022 elections among the people of Western Visayas.
“There is an urgent need to fund and commence the construction of the Panay-Guimaras-Negros or PGN bridges project. I will continue to work on this and emphasize on our policy makers the importance of this bridge,” he said./PN
