Bridge breaks ground Jan. 1

CEBU, Philippines - The groundbreaking ceremony for the third bridge linking Cebu City and  Mactan Island is set for January 1, 2015 on Shell Island, which is part of Cordova town.

This was announced by Cordova Mayor Adelino Sitoy during the weekly Tapok-Tapok Media Forum at Cebu Business Hotel organized by the Publishers Association of the Philippines (PAPI) Cebu chapter yesterday.

“Anha mag-groundbreaking sa Shell Island, duna pud ceremonies sa Cordova mismo anang January 1, 2015,” Sitoy said.

The mayor said there is significance of holding the groundbreaking ceremony on Shell Island on that date, explaining that Cordova became a town on January 1, 1913 during the American regime.

“Ang Shell dako og kahulogan namo kay di pa, di mi malungsod. Ang nagbuhi sa maong lungsod ang abang sa Shell Island ngadto sa Cordova. Gihimoan sa mga Amerkano og depot,” Sitoy said.

Sitoy also said his offer to transfer the Mactan-Cebu International Airport to Cordova near the Shell Island has already been overtaken by the bridge project.

Besides, he said, the MCIA cannot be transferred from its existing site in Lapu-Lapu City for 20 years following the construction of the new terminal.

Sitoy stressed that the construction of the third bridge needs no endorsement from government agencies such as the Regional Development Council under the Local Government Code of 1991, or the Republic Act 7160.

Section 35 in relation to Section 17, 22 (a) (5), (c) and (d) of the Code provides the power of the local government units to enter into joint ventures.

Section 35 provides that local government units “may enter into joint ventures and such other cooperative arrangements with people’s and nongovernmental organizations to engage in the delivery of certain basic servi-ces, capability-building and livelihood projects, and to develop local enterprises designed to improve productivity and income, diversify agriculture, spur rural industrialization, promote ecological balance, and enhance the economic and social well-being of the people.”

Sitoy said the municipal government had already entered into a joint venture agreement and public-private partnership (PPP) with Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC), a subsidiary of the Metro Pacific Investments Corporation headed by business tycoon Manuel Pangilinan, to undertake the P16.5-billion bridge project.

PPP legal chief Alberto Agra earlier declared that the local governments of Cebu province, Cebu City and Cordova can pursue the construction of the bridge without passing through the normal process.

Sitoy said the legal grounds for the project are the town’s PPP ordinance and a joint venture agreement between the Cordova municipal government, Cebu City government and MPTC.

Agra reportedly said the joint venture agreements don’t need the approval of the RDC and the National Economic Development Authority.

The roadmap study presented by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) earlier this year showed that at least 280 houses and 20 offices and factories in Cebu City and some 30 houses and three establishments in Cordova town would need to be relocated to give way to the bridge’s construction.

Based on the proposal, the bridge will connect the Shell Island and the South Road Properties in Cebu City.

MPTC is set to finish the causeway first then the bridge, which will take three years to build.

The JICA study also showed the length of the third bridge will be 710 meters longer than the Marcelo Fernan Bridge. —/LPM (FREEMAN)