CALAPAN CITY, Oriental Mindoro – Former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has pledged he will pursue the multi-million “superbridge” that will link Mindoro island with mainland Luzon through Batangas province if he is elected president this May.
Marcos said the ambitious bridge project, which is included in President Duterte’s Build Build Build program, will further usher development of the two provinces of Oriental and Occidental Mindoro and neighboring provinces in the MIMAROPA (Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan) region.
Marcos made the announcement during UniTeam’s grand rally on Wednesday at privately-owned St Anthony College here where an estimated 6,000 people filled the school’s gymnasium and ground.
Records from the National Economic Development Authority Investment Coordination Committee (NEDA-ICC) showed that the Mindoro-Batangas super bridge is included in the Department of Public Works and Highways’ list of ten projects that are highly considered as keys to improving connectivity that will facilitate movement of people and cargoes.
The NEDA's report also said that the super bridge has been put under feasibility studies together with the Batangas City-Bauan, Batangas Toll Road project and Pacific Eastern Seaboard Expressway.
The super bridge which would cost P18-billion to construct in five years’ time will start from Barangay Ilijan in Batangas, and pass through Verde Island and land in Barangay Sinandigan in Puerto Galera with a more or less 15-kilometer span.
San Miguel Corporation first expressed interest in the construction of the project but a check with NEDA’s Infrastructure Flagship Projects with Regional Breakdown showed that the Duterte administration is eyeing China as a funding source.
The Batangas-Mindoro bridge will be a floating bridge with high ship passage space and lanes for pedestrians and bicycles.