‘July is best time for bridge repairs’

THE best time to repair the Marcelo Fernan Bridge and temporarily close some lanes is in July, said Paul Villarete, general manager of the Mactan Cebu International Airport.

“I would rather do the repair in July because May has the highest passenger movement going to the airport and June is the opening of classes,” he said in the 888 News forum yesterday.

Villarete, a civil engineer, is part of the new Technical Working Group (TWG) formed by Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia to study how to conduct repairs under a new work schedule that would not be rushed for an original May 2 deadline set by the Department of Public Works and Highways.

The TWG formed by the Metro Cebu Bridge Management Board is set to meet tomorrow and has until May 16 to present an alternative work plan.

Villarete, however, said it would take more than two weeks to craft the plan of action for the replacement of the bridge’s 18 rubber extension joints.

He said the repair should not proceed until the materials ordered from abroad arrive on May 17.

“It will be easy. We will look at all the options and pick the one suited for the project,” he said.

Other TWG members are engineers from the repair contractor PLD Construction, acting district engineer Ronald Suico of the DPWH’s Cebu sixth district and contractor Ricky Dakay.

Villarete was a guest of the 888 Forum at Marco Polo Plaza with lawyer Hilario “Junjun” Davide III and businessman Philip Tan.

Meanwhile the airport manager said he was not “too enthusiastic” about a proposal to change the airport’s name to Lapu-Lapu International Airport as suggested by Herminio “Sonny” Coloma, chief of the Presidential Communications Office, who was a guest in the city’s Kadaugan sa Mactan festival last week.

“If there is a name change, it would be better to rename it to Cebu International Airport,” said Villarete.

Businessman Philip Tan, another forum guest, agreed, saying it’s easier to remember.

“If you ask foreigners, they know Cebu more than Manila. They think Cebu is a separate country with the Philippines so if you put the name of Lapu-Lapu into that, it just confuses things,” he said.

“I’d rather stick to memorable things like the island of Cebu,” he added. Correspondent Peter L. Romanillos