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.
He, however, did not say who would fund the multi-billion peso project and when actual construction could start.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon told DIGICAST NEGROS today, 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…it was supposed to review the feasibility study and is committed only to the Panay Guimaras portion, not the entire PGN project,” he added.
The Koreans were supposed to send a technical team late last year to validate and double check the feasibility study done by China for purposes of making a decision on whether Korean Eximbank will finance the project, Drilon said, adding that he does not know if it happened.*