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[av_heading heading=’BILLIONS FOR WV
* Region 6 not left out in Duterte infra spree – NEDA *
3 big-ticket projects worth P77 billion ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
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ILOILO City – Three big-ticket projects worth P77 billion are among the many infrastructure projects Western Visayas will be getting from the Duterte administration.
According to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Region 6 has not been left out of the so-called “Build, Build, Build” program of President Rodrigo Duterte.
Regional Director Ro-an Bacal said the national government hopes to complete the following projects within the President’s term:
- Panay – Guimaras – Negros Island Bridge Project (P27.156 billion)
- improvement of the Iloilo Airport (P30.400 billion)
- Panay River Basin Integrated Development Project (P19.300 billion)
NEDA announced these and more projects for Western Visayas during the launching of the government’s Public Investment Program (PIP) 2017-2022 on July 14.
PIP is a companion document of the Duterte administration’s Philippine Development Plan (PDP).
Bacal said the P11.212-billion Jalaur River Multipurpose Project (JRMP) Phase II in Calinog, Iloilo has also been included in the program and the government is bent on realizing it.
The mega dam project hit a legal snag. A project bidder, the South Korean contractor Daewoo, filed a case against National Irrigation Administration’s (NIA) Bids and Awards Committee (BAC).
JRMP is intended to augment agricultural production, stimulate agri-industrial activities, spur the local economy and the eco-tourism industry, increase employment opportunities and contribute to the development of the province of Iloilo in particular and Western Visayas in general. Last December 2016, however, the Regional Trial Court, Branch 84 in Quezon City stopped the BAC from conducting a rebidding after declaring the first one a failure. It then ordered NIA to re-evaluate Daewoo’s bid and that of the other bidder, Daelim, also a South Korean company.
NIA’s central office filed a motion asking the Quezon City RTC to reconsider its ruling stopping the rebidding. The court has yet to act on it.
According to NEDA, other projects for Western Visayas under the “Build, Build, Build” program are the following:
* widening of roads/bridges along the Strong Republic Nautical Highway, Western Nautical Highway from Caticlan Port to Dumangas Port (P8. 200 billion)
* Kalibo International Airport Development Project (P6.4 billion)
* upgrading and concreting of farm-to-market roads and roads leading to tourism destinations (P5 billion)
* widening of national road section (including bridges) into four lanes from Culasi Port, Roxas City to Concepcion Port, Iloilo (P5 billion)
* projects under the KALAHI-CIDSS or the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive Integrated Delivery of Social Service – National Community-Driven Development Project (P16.760 billion)
“The Duterte administration is committed to implement these projects. These are critical to make sure that the goals, objectives and target of the PDP are achieved,” said Bacal.
NEDA-6 chief economic development specialist Gilberto Altura said a feasibility study will be conducted on the proposed Panay-Guimaras-Negros Bridge and NEDA central office’s Investment Coordination Committee will process it.
A previous feasibility study conducted by the Japanese Agency for International Cooperation (JAICA) in the 1990s must be updated, said Altura.
“When the new administration came in, there were negotiations with the Chinese government. Chinese representatives were interested not only on the bridge between Iloilo and Guimaras but even those connecting to Negros and even the whole of Visayas, he said.
NEDA assistant secretary Mercidita Sombilla graced the launching of the PIP 2017-2022 in this city.
She expressed confidence that the project would be realized before the end of the Duterte administration./PN
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