Capitol to handle expressway project

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu provincial government will now be leading the implementation of the Metro Cebu Expressway (MCE) project.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will delist the MCE from its priority projects, giving the way for the Capitol to implement the major infrastructure initiative.

DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan wrote a letter to National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan and Public-Private Partnership Center (PPPC) Executive Director Ma. Cynthia Hernandez informing them that the Capitol will now be taking over the project, through a public-private partnership (PPP).

“This is to respectfully inform that the Department (DPWH) is delisting the MCE Project from the list of Priority Infrastructure Flagship Programs (IFPS) / Public Investment Program (PIP),” read the April 4 letter.

Atty. Arjay Peralta of DPWH Public-Private Partnership Service Office delivered the copy of the letter to Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia and DPWH will be fully supporting the Capitol in taking over the said project.

With the delisting of the MCE from DPWH's priority projects, the fund for the initiative will revert back to the National Treasury and it will now be the Capitol that will look for a budget to fund the project.

“Nandun po yung kahalagahan din po na ma-recognize natin yung kakayahan ng local government na mag-implement po ng ganong project,” Peralta said, as he acknowledged the importance of the local government units’ participation in looking for potential investors to help the government in realizing huge projects like MCE.

The 73.7-kilometer expressway will link the city of Naga to Danao city, providing an alternative route from the south to the north and vice versa.

Garcia earlier told DPWH that the Cebu provincial government is willing to take over the MCE project, highlighting the Capitol's capability to look for investors and implement huge projects with the help of private sector, through a PPP that is at no cost to the government.

She said that the PPP scheme can help streamline the project thus resulting to a speedy implementation.

She said the Capitol is in the best position to handle the project since it can easily deal with the local government units, especially those that would be affected.

The Capitol’s offer was also brought up after DPWH experienced significant challenges, especially on environmental concerns, that caused the delay in the implementation of the project.