Don’t sacrifice the Panay-Guimaras-Negros bridge project

“We will burn that bridge when we come to it.”

—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

By Alex P. Vidal

ALREADY delayed for about three years since it was announced, the construction of the Panay-Guimaras-Negros (PGN) Island Bridges Project will proceed this year, according to reports that quoted the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) on January 19, 2020.

NEDA pointed to the Investment Coordination Committee (ICC), which has reportedly approved the construction of the P189.53 billion project that will connect the islands of Panay, Guimaras, Negros through the Official Development Assistance (ODA).

President Duterte hinted in his recent announcement that the P275 billion emergency funds in the 2020 General Appropriations Act given by congress “might not be enough” if the pandemic will last for two years.

The government might sell some of its prime properties, the president further intoned.

Let’s hope the funds for the PGN Island Bridges Project won’t be re-channeled for the “social amelioration program” or “sacrificed” to be used in helping the day-to-day sustenance of “starving” poor families while COVID-19 continues to wallop the Filipinos.

We are confident the funds for the mammoth project have been secured and the pandemic won’t stand in the way for the much-anticipated start of the construction.  

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Ilonggos have been so excited and optimistic about the dream bridges,  bruited about to offer a safer, faster, more convenient land travel to residents and tourists of the Western Visayas island provinces, once operational.

Since it has been given a green light by the NEDA, Ilonggos will never accept any excuse once it has been sidelined anew. 

Delaying it because of the coronavirus would be unconceivable and unacceptable for the excited people of Iloilo. Guimaras, and Negros.

The biggest infrastructure project-ever under the Duterte administration will reportedly involve the construction of a 32.47-km, four-lane, and two sea-crossing bridges, including the connecting roads and interchanges that will connect the three Western Visayas island provinces.

The colossal land passageway project is expected to provide a safer and faster travel instead of the usual sea travel between the islands.

Also, the bridges will allow easier access and open a network of more convenient transportation linkage that can transform the flow of people, goods and services between the three islands and their respective provinces.

“These are the building blocks of our people’s dreams and aspirations to ease congestion and spread growth throughout the country,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said earlier.

Let’s wait and see.

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OUR neighborhood here in New York City remains to be the coronavirus “epicenter of epicenter” in the United States and in the world. As of March 14, there were 195,749 cases in New York and 10,058 deaths.

Total cases in the U.S. is 580,467 and 23,529 deaths.

Here’s the latest of what happened in the last 48 hours:

-Governor Andrew Cuomo has directed schools and nonessential businesses to stay closed for an additional two weeks through April 29^th;

-An Executive Order will direct employers to provide essential workers with masks free of charge to wear when interacting with the public;

-A bipartisan effort is being made with Maryland Governor Hogan to call for $500 billion in state aid;

-Cuomo has sent a letter to the US Treasury to ensure that New Yorkers' stimulus checks do not get frozen or seized by creditors; 

-An additional $200M in emergency food assistance will be available for low-income households enrolled in SNAP;

-New COVID-19 testing facilities are opening downstate, primarily in minority communities;

-A $600 in additional weekly unemployment benefits will be made available to all New Yorkers; and the period covered by unemployment benefits is being extended for another 13 weeks, for total of 39 weeks;

-New Yorkers who have recovered from COVID-19 have been encouraged to donate blood;

-NYS has increased the maximum fine for violations of the state's social distancing protocol from $500 to $1,000;

-New Yorkers without health insurance can apply through NY State of Health through May 15, 2020; must apply within 60 days of losing coverage.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)