Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said today, February 15, that Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu had requested another Panay Guimaras Negros bridge project feasibility study, to include the third district of Negros Occidental.
Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar announced Saturday that the prefeasibility study for the 32.47-kilometer Panay Guimaras Negros (PGN) Bridge has been completed.
“We are now on the final stages of the feasibility study,” said Villar on his Facebook page.
Lacson said that is better news than the previous announcement that the project was being aborted because the original contractor had pulled out.
The original plan has been for a bridge to be built from Guimaras to Pulupandan in Negros Occidental.
The governor said he has a copy of the request Cimatu to do another feasibility study to include the third district of Negros Occidental, wherein a bridge from Panay would connect with EB Magalona or Victorias City taking into consideration the letter sent by the University of St. La Salle and Silliman University.
Both universities have expressed concern that a bridge from Guimaras to Pulupandan would harm endangered marine life in the area.
Lacson said officials of Western Visayas have already agreed that the first phase of the project will be the Panay Guimaras bridge.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon told DIGICAST NEGROS Sunday, February 14, that he is not optimistic that the project will start this year.
The detailed engineering design and the negotiations on the loan agreement will take another year, Drilon said.
Funding will only be available for the Panay Guimaras section that is shorter, and not the Guimaras Negros portion, he also said.
The PGN bridge program was originally part of the build build build program of the Duterte administration and there was a commitment from China to fund the project amounting to P128 billion, Drilon said.
However, China changed its mind so the government had to look for another funder, he said.
“As far as I know they have been talking to Korean Eximbank,” he said.*