COMFORTABLE LIFE. An aerial photo shows the Segment 3 of the Metro Cebu Expressway. The project is considered as the biggest Build, Build, Build project of the Duterte administration in Cebu province with a total cost of PHP28.1 billion. (Photo from DPWH Secretary Mark Villar's FB page)
CEBU CITY – Over 100 social and infrastructure development projects in Central Visayas are a fulfillment of President Rodrigo Duterte’s campaign promise of bringing a comfortable life to all Filipinos, the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Lloyd Dino said.
“Data speaks for itself that the Duterte administration has been able to accomplish infrastructure projects that directly benefit the people of the Central Visayas. From housing resettlement to road construction that translates comfort and convenience to the Visayans in Region 7,” Dino told the Philippine News Agency over the weekend.
Among the ongoing development projects under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Build, Build, Build program is the Metro Cebu Expressway segment 3 in Naga City, south of Cebu province.
In a data supplied by Dino’s office, the first component of the project’s Segment 3 worth PHP250.96 million for the road right of way (RROW) acquisition is 95.65 percent complete.
DPWH-7 regional director Edgar Tabacon said the agency’s regional legal division has continuously engaged with lot owners affected by the expressway project’s RROW efforts.
Despite intermittent rains in the area, contractors have accomplished 65.43 percent of the road opening covering an 11-kilometer stretch of Segment 3.
Tabacon said Segment 3 with an alignment covering Naga-Minglanilla-Talisay borders has a PHP4.5 billion budget, but one-third of the fund has been released to finance the completion of the project.
The Metro Cebu Expressway has a total cost of PHP28.1 billion for the 73.75-kilometer road construction and ROW acquisition.
It passes through the barangays of Naga City, Minglanilla town, the cities of Cebu and Mandaue, the municipalities of Consolacion and Compostela, and ends in Danao City.
Dino said this major infrastructure project will benefit more than two million people in Metro Cebu as a result of dissipating traffic congestion from the city central up to this hinterland expressway.
Another major development in Cebu is the opening of the PHP30-billion Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) next year.
In his July 16 visit to Cebu along with Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Martin Andanar, DPWH Secretary Mark Villar announced that an upgraded national highway system in Mactan Island will complement the CCLEX.
The CCLEX connecting Cebu city to Cordova town is an 8.5-km. expressway project over the Mactan Channel undertaken by the Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC), the toll road arm of the Metro Pacific Group under a public-private partnership framework with the local governments of Cebu City and Cordova.
Airport, seaport projects
The coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic does not stop the Civil Aviation Authority from finishing the 57,513 square meter taxiway and two-story CAAP building at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport.
With the PHP223.7-million expansion project, the new taxiway which can accommodate 50 aircraft movements per hour from the previous capacity of 35 is expected to bring a better economy with the creation of more jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities.
Dino said the new taxiway “will prove useful in optimizing the arrival and departure of aircraft which we expect to increase over time.”
The second runway of the region’s premier airport is also expected to be finished by 2022.
Apart from MCIA, the PHP154-million runway expansion project at the Bantayan Airport in Sta. Fe, Bantayan, Cebu is expected to bring economic benefits to northern province’s residents.
In the island province of Siquior, the Cang-Alwang Airport runway expansion project as well as the construction of other structures worth PHP410.44 million has substantially been completed, despite delay due to hitches in RROW acquisition.
Siquijor’s port expansion project undertaken by the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) cost PHP167.09 million is also 97.66 percent complete.
Meanwhile, the PHP123.50-million Dumaguete Airport development project in Sibulan, Negros Oriental was completed on April 13, 2021 while the PHP800-million Bacong Airport is due for implementation.
In Dumaguete City, the PHP110-million port development project was completed on August 21, 2019.
Bohol province received from the national government a total of PHP924.59 million worth of rehabilitation and expansion projects at the seaports of Tubigon, Catagabacan, Jagna, Ubay, Talibon, Getafe and its capital of Tagbilaran City.
Two of the projects – repair of the wharf in Jagna and construction of additional fast craft berth in Tagbilaran – were more than 90 percent complete, while the other works ranging from construction of Roll-on, Roll-off ramp to pavements and drainage system are ongoing.
Another ongoing project is the PHP9.92-billion New Cebu International Container Port Project of the DOTr in Consolacion town.
OPAV data showed the request for an increase in cost and extension of implementation and load validity period is under review by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Investment Coordination Committee Technical Board.
‘Yolanda’ housing project
In fulfilling President Duterte’s challenge to the National Housing Authority (NHA) to finish "Yolanda" housing projects in six months, a total of 5,573 units in 10 housing resettlement projects in northern Cebu have been completed.
OPAV record showed that the 10 completed housing sites have a total cost of PHP1.6 billion.
Three of the housing sites for the victims of Typhoon Yolanda in Daanbantayan are: Maya Park Homes that has 650 units (PHP187.86 million) in Barangay Maya; Green Heights I in Barangay Tomninjao, 750 units (PHP212.25 million); and Green Heights II in Barangay Calape, 463 units (PHP129.63 million).
The other housing projects are the Olivo Heights in Barangay Olivo, Tabuelan with 220 units and construction cost of PHP63.72 million; Northview Park Homes 1 in Barangay Antipolo, Medellin with 631 units at PHP182.90 million; San Remegio Heights in Barangay Tambogon, San Remegio with 607 and cost PHP172.99 million.
In Bantayan Island, the housing resettlement areas are: the Balai Bantayan Phase 1 that has 450 units and costs PHP130.31 million; Balai Bantayan Phase 2 with 450 units amounting to PHP130.31 million; Balay Bantayan Phase 3 in Barangay Kabac, Bantayan, with 352 units pegged at PHP112.93 million; and Sto. Niño Homes in Barangay Maricaban, Sta. Fe town with 1,000 units costing PHP289.80 million.
The others include the Kabyayan ni Orongel-Villa Mercedes 1 housing site that has 750 units worth PHP211.47 million and the Kabyayan ni San Vicente–Villa Mercedes 2 with 230 units worth PHP66.67 million, both in Kampingganon, Bantayan; the St. Francis Park Homes 2 in Kodia, Madridejos with 750 units worth PHP212.41 million.
Community peace development
Around PHP35.9 million was also released for the construction of five police stations in Bohol and Cebu.
Of the five areas, the Mandaue City Police Office building project has received the highest allocation for the construction of a standard police station in the region, with a total cost of PHP16 million while the construction of the building for the newly approved Inayawan Police Station under the Cebu City Police Office got PHP4.9 million.
The completion of the Regional Highway Patrol Unit (RHPU-7) in Camp Sotero Cabahug was allocated with a PHP4.5-million fund.
In Bohol, the construction of Buenavista Municipal Police Station received a budget of PHP5.3 million while the Garcia Hernandez Municipal Police Station got PHP5.2 million.
Potable water, other projects
The Duterte administration has delivered various projects that aimed to provide potable water supply to the poor and waterless community with a total amount of PHP106.8 million.
Dino said the national government program under the SALINTUBIG (Sagana at Ligtas na Tubig sa Lahat) is estimated to provide water to half a million waterless families in Central Visayas.
These projects can be found in the towns of Dagohoy, Bien Unido, Sagbayan, Buenavista, Getafe, Carmen in Bohol; barangays Vito, Butong Kawayan and Mayana in Barili, Cebu, barangays Tiguib and Patong in Badian, Cebu; and Basay, Siaton and Tayasan in Negros Oriental.
Dino also said the national government helped local government units in Central Visayas with a PHP62.36 million budget under the Performance Challenge Fund, an incentive fund in the form of counterpart funding to high-impact capital investment projects in the Annual Investment Program.
These projects – ranging from road improvement to dike, park and solid waste technology constructions – were also funded out of the 20 percent local development fund consistent with the national goals and priorities. (PNA)
