Panay-Guimaras-Negros bridge may start soon, says Iloilo mayor

Render of Panay Guimaras Negros Bridge

ILOILO CITY—The proposed Panay-Guimaras-Negros bridge may be realized under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas on Monday said new Bacolod City Mayor Albee Benitez told him that the bridge project would soon start.

He cited the Benitez family connection to the Marcoses.

“[The bridge] will finally push through, said [Benitez] because he is close to [President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.], considering that his mother and father both worked with the [Marcos Sr. administration] before,” Treñas said.

Treñas and Benitez joined a dinner on July 8 with mayors and governors in Malacañang, with Marcos Jr. attending virtually after testing positive for COVID-19.

The national government under the Duterte administration borrowed in May $56.6 million (P2.96 billion) from the Korean government for pre-construction work.

These include engineering designs and procurement assistance as part of pre-construction requirements.

Construction of the bridge had been pushed since the Arroyo and Aquino administrations and was initially part of the Duterte administration’s ‘Build, Build, Build’ program.

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