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| President Rodrigo Duterte leads the opening of P317.7 M Lisap Bridge in Oriental Mindoro on April 3, 2018 / Presidential photo file |
Manila,
Philippines -The department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has already
built a total of t 3,945 kilometers of roads and implemented other
infrastructure projects since President Rodrigo Duterte assumed office in 2016.
DPWH Secretary
Mark Villar detailed the accomplishments of the agency which includes widening
of roads, rehabilitation of bridges and pending projects for completion, among
others.
“We have
widened 1,908 km of roads, built 328 kilometer of bypasses and diversion roads,
393 kilometers of missing gaps connecting national roads, and 1,316 km of
access roads,” the DPWH secretary said.
The agency also
widened a total of “511 bridges spanning 23,929 meters, replaced 204 bridges,
spanning 8,305 meters, and built 127 new bridges spanning 6,260 meters,”
The figures
also include the restoration of “939 bridges spanning 40,192 meters and
strengthened 642 bridges, spanning 29,260 meters,” Villar said.
DPWH has
consistently worked on achieving the infrastructure program of Duterte
administration, the “Build, Build, Build” which aims to transform the Philippines
into a high-middle income economy by 2022.
The DPWH chief
also said that construction is taking place in every region across the country
as part of the president’s effort to further develop the country’s infrastructure.*
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| The opening of the Davao River Bridge in May 2018 / Photo from Mark Villar's Facebook page |
Villar
cited that by 2022, DPWH would have constructed the network of highways with a
total length of 834.72 kilometers – which will be called the Luzon Spine
Expressway Network.
“Once completed,
travel time from Metro Manila to San Fernando, La Union will be reduced from 6
hours and 55 minutes to 3 hours and 10 minutes,” he said.
Then travel
time from Ilocos to Bicol would be reduced from 19 hours and 40 minutes to 8
hours and 15 minutes.
Villar
proudly announced that the agency was ahead of its schedule, and infrastructure
projects are in their advance stages.
“Within the
year, we expect to open the NLEX Harbor Link Project, which will connect
McArthur Highway and C3 and reduce travel time from Quezon City to Manila to
only 10 minutes,” he said.*
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| The 6.4 km Tacloban bypass road, which starts at Tigbao and ends at Caibaan, will be completely passable by 2019 / photo from Mark Villar's Facebook page |
In about almost
two months, the agency is about to begin its construction of the 3.77-km
Panguil Bay Bridge that will connect Tangub, Misamis Occidental to Tubod, Lanao
del Norte.
“Once
completed in 2021, it will take only 10 minutes to reach Tangub City from Tubod
using the bridge compared to the 2.5 hours it would take using the 102-km route
via the Tubod- Kapatagan-Molave-Tangub road,” the DPWH secretary said.
“Travel
time between Ozamiz City, Misamis Occidental and Mukas, Kolambugan, Lanao Del
Norte will be reduced from 2.5 hours using RORO operations to 20 minutes using
the Panguil Bay Bridge,” he added.
Bataan-Cavite
Interlink, the Mindoro-Batangas Super Bridge, the Panay-Guimaras-Negros Link,
the Negros-Cebu Link Bridge, the Panguil Bay Bridge, the Guicam Brdige, the
Camarines-Catanduanes Friend Bridge, the Luzon Sorsogon-Samar Link Bridge, and
the Davao Samall Bridge, are also included in this network.
Villar
added that the implementation of these projects are being prioritized and fast tracked
to meet the deadline before the term of President Duterte in 2022 ends.
On August 2,
the DPWH opened two out of four lanes of the Southbound flyover of the
Cavite-Expressway (Cavitex). It will ease traffic at the intersection of Pacific Drive and Cavitex.
Source: Manila Bulletin
