IN THE KNOW: Other massive projects in the Visayas

Aside from the bridges, massive projects worth at least P123.68 billion are being undertaken by the Duterte administration for the Visayas.

Some were started or identified by the previous administration.

These are the P7.9-billion Leyte Tide Embankment Project, which covers 27.3 kilometers from the shore of Barangay Diit in Tacloban City to Tanauan town, both in Leyte province.

The project aims to protect the province from storm surges. In 2013, surges pummeled Tacloban when Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) struck.

By August, the new Bohol (Panglao) airport worth P4.5 billion will be operational.

The new world-class passenger terminal building at Mactan Cebu International Airport in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu province, opened in June.

Ongoing projects include:

The Bacolod Economic Highway, a 21.8-km, four-lane road with three bridges and a two-way bike lane that would serve as an alternative circumferential road bypassing the busy Bacolod City Central District; and

The 73.75-km Metro Cebu Expressway connecting Danao City in the north to Naga City in the south.

Expected to begin this year is the new Cebu International Container Port, a P9.2-billion project which aims to add 20-foot equivalent unit (TEU) container yard capacity to the Cebu International Port.

It will be built on 25 hectares of reclaimed land at Barangay Tayud, Consolacion town, with a 500-meter berth to accommodate two 2,000-TEU vessels, four quay cranes and superstructures (operation building, gate complex, weigh bridge, maintenance factory), and a 1,450-meter inland access road and 300-meter offshore bridge.

In the pipeline are the maintenance and development projects for the Bacolod and Iloilo airports to start next year, and the establishment of a night rating at the Dumaguete airport in Negros Oriental province.

Part of the “Build Build Build” infrastructure program is the Central Spine Roro Alignment Project, which seeks to align the road and sea linkages through the roll-on, roll-off system from the Batangas Port down to Cagayan de Oro City. —Connie E. Fernandez-Brojan