ILOILO City — Construction of the long-awaited Panay-Guimaras-Negros (PGN) Link Bridge will no longer begin this year. Government planners are now targeting the start of major works by mid-2027 after engineers discovered that foundation depths far deeper than originally projected are needed.
Korean consultants conducting the project’s detailed engineering design (DED) discovered that the needed stable seabed foundations for the bridge piers were located at depths reaching 50 to 60 meters — nearly double earlier estimates.
Despite the setback, authorities said the multibillion-peso flagship infrastructure project remains on track, with the Panay-Guimaras segment expected to begin construction in the middle of 2027, followed by the Guimaras–Negros section before the end of the same year.
According to Director Arecio Casing Jr. of the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) Region 6, the Economic Development Council (EDC) is currently validating the project’s technical, financial, and social documentary requirements, including the completed DED and other documents needed by funding agencies.
The engineering studies also took longer than expected because of difficult sea conditions, he added.
The full completion of the two bridge systems could take five to six years, according to Casing.
Once completed, the PGN Link Bridge is expected to dramatically transform transportation and trade in Western Visayas by physically connecting Panay, Guimaras, and Negros islands through two major bridge sections.
The Panay-Guimaras segment will be 13 kilometers while the Guimaras-Negros segment will be 19.47 kilometers.
Travel time between the islands, which currently takes up to four hours by sea transport, is expected to be reduced to less than one hour.
Casing said the project is expected to improve regional connectivity, mobility of goods, and access between the three islands once operational.
Earlier, the DPWH Unified Project Management Office (UPMO) had targeted the start of civil works for Section A or the Panay–Guimaras segment before the end of 2026 in hopes of advancing construction before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. leaves office in 2028.
To support the project, the DPWH Central Office allocated P443.5 million in the 2026 national budget as counterpart funding.
Of the amount, P193.34 million is intended for overall project requirements, P171.23 million for the Panay–Guimaras segment, and P78.94 million for the Guimaras–Negros section.
The PGN Link Bridge remains one of the government’s most ambitious infrastructure projects outside Luzon and is considered a flagship development initiative aimed at accelerating economic integration in Western Visayas./PN
