NEWS

By Bonita Ermac

TUBOD, Lanao del Norte – President Rodrigo Duterte led in the groundbreaking and capsule-laying for the construction of what is purported to be the longest bridge in the country – Panguil Bay Bridge (PBB) project – that aims to connect Tangub City, Misamis Occidental and Tubod here Wednesday.

The President was received by local officials led by Lanao del Norte Governor Imelda Quibranza-Dimaporo, 1st District Rep. Mohammad Khalid Quibranza Dimaporo, 2nd District Rep. Abdullah “Bobby” Dimakuta Dimaporo and Tubod Mayor Leoncio Bagol, along with Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Mark Villar and Korean Ambassador to the Philippines Han-Dong Man.

Villar said the two-lane 3.7 kilometer extradosed-type bridge will shorten the travel time between the two provinces to seven minutes from one and a half hour via a barge from Mukas Port in Kolambugan, Lanao del Norte to Ozamis City.

Villar said the Panguil Bay Bridge spans 3.772 kilometers to connect Tangub City, Misamis Occidental and Tubod, Lanao del Norte in Northern Mindanao (Region X.), consisting of two lanes, with 15 meters width as good as four lanes.

The total length of the bridge is 2.360 kilometers and the total approached road is L-1.4212 kilometers.

Expected to be completed in 2021, PBB is the first of the 16 bridges to be built to connect Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao under the Duterte administration’s “Build, Build, Build” program, Villar said.

It will also facilitate 24/7 mobility of people, goods and services and is expected to propel economic growth in the surrounding areas.

The project cost is P7. 352 billion funded by the Korean Economic Development Cooperative Agreement (KEDCA) through a financing loan to the national government.

President Duterte thanked the Republic of Korea by saying “this is their gift for us and there’s more, he said.

“Korea has a special attachment to the Filipinos, you know why? We fought in the Korean War and a lot of Filipinos died,” Duterte explained.

Governor Imelda Dimaporo said: “I am so happy that finally, after more than 30 years, this project was realized, No less than President Rodrigo Roa Duterte came here para sa (for the) ground breaking.

“The people here are really very happy. It’s a dream come true,” Dimaporo said.

She added that the bridge is like the door of investments not only in Lanao del Norte but even in Misamis Occidental and the cities of Tangub and Ozamiz.

“We have so many attractions here. In fact the bridge will also become a tourist attraction because it has a design, it has a character, and it is the longest in the Philippines”, she added.

Source: Manila Bulletin
Photo: SIMEON CELI JR. | PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO | MANILA BULLETIN