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About 350 sea and air port projects are for completion by 2028, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said in his State of the Nation Address on July 22
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More than 70 sea and air port development projects across the country have already been completed
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The country is also “in the midst as well of a ‘railway renaissance’” with various ongoing railway projects, the chief executive said
About 350 sea and air port infrastructure projects are for completion by 2028 even as more than 70 projects across the country have already been completed, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said in his State of the Nation Address on July 22.
The modernization of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) led by the private sector is expected to improve the gateway’s services in the coming years, Marcos noted.
“Soon, it will be capable of accommodating 48 flights per hour, servicing our ever-increasing local and international flight routes, and catering to more than 62 million passengers per year,” he said.
The SMC SAP & Company Consortium earlier this year won the 15-year concession agreement for the NAIA rehabilitation project. The New NAIA Infra Corp.—the special purpose company formed by the winning consortium—is expected to take over NAIA by September this year.
Aside from NAIA, Marcos noted the capacity expansion of other gateways.
The passenger terminal buildings of General Santos Airport and the Bicol International Airport have been expanded to 2,000 and 1,600 passengers, respectively. The Batangas port’s integrated passenger terminal building also can now accommodate 8,000 travelers at any given time.
Further, Marcos said the country is “in the midst as well of a ‘railway renaissance’.”
The chief executive said the Metro Manila Subway Project (MMSP) has “logged significant accomplishments in its tunneling works”, noting an equivalent of three to six floors have been excavated.
Transport Secretary Jaime Bautista earlier said four tunnel boring machines are already operating for the project’s Contract Package 101 and two more will be added by the end of 2024.
The first underground railway in the country, the MMSP is a 33 km and 17-station rail line that aims to cut travel time between Quezon City and Ninoy Aquino International Airport from the current 1 hour and 10 minutes to just 35 minutes.
The Department of Transportation targets the subway’s completion by 2029. Once operational, the underground railway system can service up to 370,000 passengers daily.
Other railway projects, such as the Metro Rail Transit-7 and the North- South Commuter Railway, are likewise progressing.
“We will make sure that the right-of-way issues are resolved in the most equitable, efficient, and expeditious manner, so that these will not get in the way of our infrastructure development,” Marcos said.
The first phase of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1 Cavite Extension Project, which will extend the existing line by 6.2 km and connect Baclaran Station in Pasay City to Dr. Santos Station in Parañaque City, is expected to open this year.
Marcos said 76 new trains were also added to LRT Line 1 while the Philippine National Railways’ (PNR) 101 km Naga-Legazpi-Naga route in Bicol was opened late last year after six years of suspension.
Meanwhile, the Central Luzon Expressway, North Luzon Expressway-South Luzon Expressway Connector, and the Plaridel Bypass, all part of the Luzon Spine Expressway Network, will be completed by year-end, and the Cavite-Laguna Expressway and the C5 South Link fully operational by next year, Marcos said.
These projects will interconnect North, Central Luzon, Metro Manila and Southern Luzon, he noted.
Two bridges under the Inter-Island Linkage Bridge Program are set to be opened this year. These are the Panguil Bay Bridge Project, touted as the longest water-spanning bridge in Northern Mindanao, and the Guicam Bridge in Zamboanga Sibugay.
Last May, the Department of Public Works and Highways said the 3.17-kilometer Panguil Bay Bridge Project connecting Tangub City, Misamis Occidental, and Tubod, Lanao del Norte was 90% complete.
The 1.2 km Guicam Bridge, meanwhile, will connect Olutanga Island to the mainland of Mindanao.
Another transport infrastructure project is the recently-opened 20 km Airport to New Clark City Access Road in Pampanga connecting Clark Freeport Zone and New Clark City that is expected to provide faster and more convenient trips to and from Clark International Airport.
As of May this year, 12,000 km worth of roads and more than 1,200 bridges have been built and upgraded across the country, Marcos said.
“Of note, we have provided the budget to upgrade 367 bridges and almost 1,600 km of road along our country’s longest thoroughfare — the Maharlika Highway — from Luzon all the way to Mindanao,” he added. – Roumina Pablo
