National funds eyed in Alabang viaduct repair

It may be a local infrastructure, but the Alabang viaduct holds some national importance to merit some national funding.

With safety of hundreds of thousands of motorists in mind, Muntinlupa City Rep. Rufino "Ruffy" Biazon urged the national government to consider allocating a budget for the rehabilitation of the dilapidated viaduct.

Biazon suggested last Friday that less urgent national projects should be put on standby to give priority to the viaduct problem. He noted that a few months ago, he wrote President Arroyo expressing the urgent need to repair the Alabang viaduct and asking her to include the structure in the list of the national government’s priority projects.

Biazon said that he would bring up the issue anew when Congress resumes starts budget deliberations later this month. The rehabilitation project would cost an estimated P600 million, he said.

The Alabang viaduct is a major overpass that traverses the South Luzon Expressway. Some 200,000 vehicles regularly use it daily, going to and coming from Laguna, Batangas and other provinces of Southern Luzon.

Because of its dilapidated condition, the Philippine National Construction Co. (PNCC) has banned cargo trucks from using the viaduct, hence delaying the transport of goods to and from the Southern Luzon provinces.

An official of the Confederation of Truckers’ Associations of the Philippines (CTAP) said the truck ban has caused missed or delayed deliveries of raw materials and export goods to the North Harbor in Manila, not to mention that truckers have incurred more expenses – which ultimately translate to higher prices of basic commodities. Worse, he said, are truck cargoes being hijacked when they take alternate routes.

PNCC president and CEO Luis Sison has admitted that the company does not have the money to undertake the project and is still scouring for funding.

Last Sept. 20, an angry Muntinlupa Mayor Jaime Fresnedi re-imposed the ordinance banning trucks from using the national road under the bridge from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. to compel the PNCC to start working on the viaduct repair as agreed by them in July.

Fresnedi said he had agreed to suspend the ban until the bridgework and alternative routes are done. But the city government claimed the PNCC has not begun working on the expansion of the national road, which is the first stage of the project, despite its commitment.

Fresnedi remained firm in his decision. "Don’t blame us if the viaduct collapses," he said. – Nikko Dizon