CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines — The proposed bridge that would connect Tubod, Lanao del Norte and Tangub City in Misamis Occidental is targeted to be completed by 2021, a DPWH-10 official said over the weekend.
DPWH-10 spokesperson Vinah Jeanne Maghinay said in an interview that the construction of the proposed 3.7-kilometer Panguil Bay Bridge (PBB) will start this November and is expected to be finished by October 2021.
Once realized, transport time from Tubod to Tangub will be shortened to seven minutes from the hour-and-a-half travel time via sea vessel, she said.
The DPWH-10 has also confirmed that the road right-of-way issues on both sides of the planned bridge have been addressed.
District engineers Rey Peter Gille and Carol Lyn Abinales, of the Lanao del Norte and Misamis Occidental district engineering offices of the DPWH-10, respectively, have already certified that the acquisition of road right-of-way for the construction of the PBB approaches and access roads in their jurisdictions have already been settled.
Maghinay said the preparation for the bidding was from September 2017 to May 2018. Submission of bids was on Sept. 4, and completion of bid evaluation on Sept. 5-19. The contract signing will be on Oct. 13-16 and notice to proceed will be on Oct. 28.
The original project cost of the PBB was P4.858 billion which ballooned to P7.352 billion owing to the movement in the peso-dollar exchange rate, which rose from $1=P42.71 to $1=P52.00 over a span of four years.
The funding for the project was sourced from the Korean Economic Development Cooperation Fund.
It can be recalled that the PBB is part of the Northern Mindanao Development Corridor (NMDC) initiatives highlighted under the term of the then-Regional Development Council-10 chairman and now Lanao del Norte 1st District Rep. Mohamad Khalid Dimaporo.
The NMDC comprises the provinces of Misamis Oriental, Misamis Occidental, Bukidnon, Camiguin, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Agusan del Norte, and Surigao del Norte.
Aside from the PBB, RDC-10 also included on its future development projects the construction of the first segment of the Mindanao Railway System and the upgrading of airports in Ozamiz, Surigao, and Laguindingan in Misamis Oriental.
Two other such corridors were also created in the southern and western parts of Mindanao to address the challenges of growth and development in the island that formed the Mindanao Development Corridors (MDC).
In an article posted on the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) website, Dimaporo said he was supportive of initiatives that promote sustainable development in Northern Mindanao, “and anchoring our efforts to the Mindanao Development Corridors is one of the efficient ways of achieving our goals.”
He said the NMDC has potentials of developing into a world-class industrial and service center, owing to its public infrastructure that is suited for industrialization.
“The presence of eco-zones and the location of industrial and agribusiness enterprises in the region, coupled with a strong agricultural sector and a budding business process outsourcing industry makes NMDC a key player in Mindanao’s socioeconomic development,” Dimaporo said.
MinDA, through the Mindanao Peace and Development Framework Plan or the Mindanao 2020, adopts the MDC as a key spatial strategy aimed to improve infrastructure, establish connectivity, and spur the development of growth clusters within the island-region, allowing it to achieve balanced and inclusive growth among its regions. (davaotoday.com)
