$380-M ADB loan to support 11 Mindanao road projects, says DPWH chief Villar

Published January 12, 2018 04:40 PM

Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar said Friday that 11 big-ticket infrastructure projects in Mindanao will be implemented under a $380-million loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez and ADB President Takehiko Nakao signed on Thursday the loan agreement on Improving Growth Corridors in Mindanao Road Sector Project, Villar said in a statement.

The project is ADB’s “first support” for a regional project in the “Golden Age of Infrastructure” under the Duterte administration.

Under the agreement eight roads will be constructed in Zamboanga Peninsula and three bridges in Tawi-Tawi Province valued at P25.257 billion. The various projects will be implemented from 2018 to 2023.

“The whole project costs P25.257 billion. With the ADB loan, we can utilize more of our budget to other key infrastructure projects of the government,” Villar noted.

Core projects for procurement in the first quarter of 2018 include the 23.69-kilometer Alicia-Malangas Road, the 17.1-km Tampilisan-Sandayong Road, and the 37.49-km Lutiman-Guicam-Olutanga Road, as well as the 440-lineal meter Guicam Bridge.

Villar said the detailed engineering design of five more projects are 80 percent complete.

These include the 55.25-km R.T. Lim-Siocon Road, the 40-km Lanao-Pagadian-Ipil-Zamboanga Road and Curuan-Sibuco Road, 34.5-km Siay-Gapol Road, and the 27.76-km Gutalac-Baliguian Alternative Road.

The agreement also covers the construction of three bridges in Tawi-Tawi, namely Malassa-Lupa Pula, Tongsinah-Paniongan, and Nalil-Sikkiat.

“These roads and bridges are among the priority projects of the DPWH as the agency focuses on backing the economic development outside Luzon—in this case, of the Mindanao Area,” the DPWH said.

Citing a common goal to accelerate infrastructure development, Villar said all the projects are in line with the strategies of the Build Build Build program.

The project aims to increase the road network capacity of Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) by "improving and widening existing roads and bridges to upgrade and expand the Philippine road network, he said.

The ADB approved last December 31 the P380-million loan to help the Philippine government improve road network and spur economic development in Mindanao. — Margaret Claire Layug/VDS, GMA News

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