By Jim Lloyd Dongiapon
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) announced that the ₱7.4 billion Panguil Bay Bridge is scheduled to open by the first half of 2024.
DPWH Undersecretary Emil Sadain said that the project is 63 percent complete and that the bridge top slab construction on both ends in Tangub, Misamis Occidental, and Tubod, Lanao del Norte, has started.
“By working round-the-clock and further improve the formulated measures to catch up the delays brought by previous suspension of activities due to COVID-19 pandemic from March 16 – July 2020, we will be able to finish the project toward the goal of having first traffic cross the bridge by first half of 2024”, said Senior Undersecretary Sadain.
The two-way, two-lane Panguil Bay Bridge will significantly reduce the travel time between Tangub and Tubod to just seven minutes.
Currently, the Roll-on, Roll-off (RoRo) vessels that connect Misamis Occidental and Lanao del Norte travel a longer route of about 100 kilometers with an estimated travel time of between one and a half and two hours, including loading and unloading.
The project, which is being funded by a loan agreement between the Philippines and the Korean Export-Import Bank (Korea Eximbank), will improve transportation capacity and efficiency while also contributing to Mindanao’s socioeconomic development.
Furthermore, it is part of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr.’s administration’s strategy to boost the tourism, agricultural, and industrial sectors, particularly in Mindanao.