By JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR AND MYLA IGLESIAS
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has over 70,000 projects to implement this year throughout the country, with several of these set for groundbreaking and inauguration before the Holy Week and the State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in July, according to Secretary Manuel Bonoan.
Bonoan said the DPWH is scheduled to start the construction this year of major infrastructure projects valued at P213.8 billion that include roads, hospitals, bridges and the 32.15-kilometer Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge.
Bonoan said during a press briefing in Malacañang yesterday the agency intends to start the construction of the P175-billion Bataan-Cavite project in the latter part of the year and this is expected to be completed in five years or before the end of the Marcos administration.
“We will try to have this completed before the term of the President ends,” he said.
Bonoan said aside from the reduced travel hours and improved access in the two provinces, the bridge project is expected to bring an economic rate of return of more than 25 percent, based on a study by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The Cavite-Bataan Interlink Bridge project will include four lanes and two navigation bridges that are cable-stayed with one measuring about 400 meters and the other at 900 meters, he added.
Bonoan, after briefing President Marcos Jr. and the Cabinet about the accomplishments of DPWH in the first six months of the administration and its plans for the next five years, said the agency has around P890 billion in budget this year which will mainly go to the various roads and bridges as well as school and hospital building projects of the government.
Bonoan said other major projects to be undertaken by DPWH this year include six bridges across the Pasig River that will be funded through the official development assistance (ODA) from ADB and Chinese bank Exim.
He added the bridge project over the Pasig River is part of the results of the President’s state visit to China last January.
He said other projects of the DPWH are the North Luzon Expressway-South Luzon Expressway Connector from Caloocan to España in Manila that will be inaugurated before the Holy Week in April, and the Cavite-Laguna Expressway and the Central Luzon Link project from Tarlac to Cabanatuan that will be inaugurated before the SONA.
Bonoan said other projects up for inauguration within the year are the flood mitigation projects in Cagayan de Oro, several road projects in Mindanao including four artery road sections, and a road project in conflict-affected areas in the southern island and the Samar Pacific Coastal Road.
DPWH also has several ODA funded projects in the pipeline that are scheduled for groundbreaking this year.
These are the P16.03-billion three bridges project crossing the Pasig-Marikina River and the Manggahan Floodway Bridge set to start construction in May; P7.9-billion Metro Manila Priority Bridges Seismic Improvement Project scheduled for groundbreaking in August; and the P12.03-billion three bridges crossing Marikina targeted to start construction this December and to be completed by October 2026.
Other locally funded projects worth P2.8 billion set to start construction include the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (OPD Dialysis Center) in June, Philippine General Hospital (Pediatric and Adult Specialty Center), and Philippine Children’s Medical Center in Agham Road, Diliman.
