TACLOBAN CITY - President Rodrigo Duterte led the inauguration of the 6.4-kilometer bypass road here and the new Provincial Government Complex building in Guindaponan, Palo, Leyte on Thursday.
The bypass road was completed under the 'Build, Build, Build,' a flagship program of the Duterte administration, as well as the four-lane and six-lane roadway, construction of drainage, and slope protection structures.
The president first went to the bypass road in Maharlika Highway in Brgy. Caibaan. He was accompanied by Senator Christopher Lawrence 'Bong' Go, Department of Public Works and Highway Secretary Roger Mercado, City Mayor Alfred Romualdez, Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Lloyd Dino, and other local officials.
The project with an estimated cost of P2.1 billion aims to reduce the travel time going to the northern part of the city and Samar province from nearby municipalities in Leyte by 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, Duterte also led the inauguration of the Leyte Provincial Government Complex Building located within a 14-hectare property in Palo, Leyte.
Leyte Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla said the building, located along the Palo West Bypass Road in Brgy. Pawing, will be occupied by local government workers.
Construction of the P800-million building started on Jan. 21, 2020, after the old capitol sustained cracks during the magnitude 6.5 earthquake in Leyte and Samar in April 2019.
It was also struck by a storm surge during the onslaught of Supertyphoon 'Yolanda' in 2013.
Petilla added the 5-storey building was designed to withstand strong earthquakes.