Shame on them

“Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes... but no plans.”

—Peter Drucker

By Alex P. Vidal

SOME politicians have made it a habit to dangle the ill-fated Panay-Guimaras bridge project to the Ilonggos, especially those living in Guimaras Province, in order to get their attention and, what else but, votes during every election.

From FVR to Erap, Gloria, Digong they’re all the same dogs with a different collar, so to speak. They all broke their promise to the Ilonggos and shame on them.

If either Leni Robredo or Bongbong Marcos Jr. will win on May 9, anyone of them is advised not to play anymore with the emotions of the people from Panay and Guimaras if the project isn’t actually in their radar. 

Those who did think the people of Panay and Guimaras were like a babaeng kaladkarin, to borrow the words of the Tagalogs, who continued to stumble after being sweet-talked repeatedly by  womanizers. 

As the saying goes, “fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.”

-o0o-

WE have good reason to believe that Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Rey Bulay didn’t mean what he said when he reportedly threatened to use the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to arrest those who would accuse the poll body of playing partisanship during the May 9 Philippine election.

At least we are giving Bulay the benefit of the doubt. 

Was he misquoted? Or was it a case of a slip of the tongue?

As a lawyer, it’s unimaginable for Dulay not to know the basic tenets of the freedom of speech, expression and of the press. 

Even non-lawyers understand what this very sacred freedom is all about, and why it is enshrined in the constitution.

It’s understandable if many journalists were quick to react on Bulay’s threat. 

Criticizing government officials like Bulay because it’s their job may be tantamount to placing themselves in the firing line, if Bulay meant the threat he had supposedly made.

Because it’s election season and Comelec is the most powerful government office until after the winners in the May 9 election have been officially proclaimed, many so-called freedom fighters and human right advocates running for public office were adamant to criticize Bulay.

Interestingly only Senator Franklin Drilon, who isn’t running in the election, took turns in chiding the neophyte poll commissioner, saying: “I would advise the commissioner that we’re public servants. Let’s not threaten the people. These are just pleas for honest elections, a call on the Comelec to exercise their duties. There is nothing wrong with that.”

-o0o-

It’s not advisable for any candidate—presidential and otherwise—to challenge his or her rival to a debate at this stage of the election campaign. 

Thus Vice President Leni Robredo’s challenge to her rival Bongbong Marcos Jr. for a one-on-one debate a week before the Election Day appeared to be meaningless and jumbled.

If she thought she really needed it to prop up her candidacy, she should have made the challenge week ago—when Marcos Jr was being ribbed by his critics for intentionally dodging televised debates with no valid reason.

The campaign is about to conclude and the election is several sleeps away now. 

Most candidates are also about to finalize their out-of-town sorties and miting de avance in different cities and provinces. 

Everyone involved in the gut-wrenching campaign activities that romped off months ago is now tired and weary; most of them are now focusing their energy on Election Day.

To challenge anyone to a debate when the tents and curtains are being folded up is like a marathoner challenging a rival to run for additional 2 kilometers after crossing the finishing line of the 42.195-kilometer full marathon.

It will be misconstrued as a sign of panic and desperation. Or both.

Or it may be an irrational fear that someone hasn’t done the tasks that were supposed to be finished yesterday.

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

 

   

 

Elect Drilon as president if we want a mega bridge

 “Any man who wants to be president is either an egomaniac or crazy.”—Dwight D. Eisenhower

 By Alex P. Vidal

 

COVID-19 pandemic will always be a convenient and, perhaps, the most “justifiable” excuse if the Duterte administration will not implement the construction of the ambitious Iloilo–Guimaras–Negros–Cebu Link Bridge while the Filipinos struggle to overcome the coronavirus tragedy and the government prioritizes the grand plan to rescue the slumping economy.    

In other words, the mega bridge, with a total length of 4,000 m (13,000 ft) (Phase I); 12,000 m (39,000 ft) (Phase II); 8,000 m (26,000 ft) (Phase III) that crosses the Iloilo Strait (Phase I); Guimaras Strait (Phase II); Tañon Strait (Phase III), might never be realized under President Duterte’s centerpiece program, “Build! Build! Build! (BBB) Program”, that aims to usher the “Golden age of infrastructure” in the Philippines until the next administration takes over, or until the COVID-19 pandemic will cease to be the Filipinos’ nightmare.

In any given situation, major concerns like the well-being and health of the people will always be the top priority by any government.

The funds needed to purchase the vaccines are more urgent and important, and the funds set aside for the mega projects can be sacrificed, if necessary, to pave the way for survival of the people. 

 

-o0o-

 

The mammoth project that will involve four big islands: Panay, Guimaras, Negros, Cebu might not be totally shelved, but it won’t certainly be in the front seat of the government’s infrastructure programs next year even if a budget had already been set aside as confirmed by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), which had announced the timetable for the project’s groundworks as early as 2018.

Even if President Duterte were from Panay or Negros, he still couldn’t force the issue because his hands were tied and the sudden turn of events was beyond his control.

In this idiosyncratic circumstance where everything is still unpredictable, the President can bring the horse to the river, but can’t force it to drink the water.  

Coronavirus has almost become a universal catastrophe, not just a Philippine affair.  

The Philippine economy actually ranked among the best performers in Asia before the pandemic. 

 

-o0o-

 

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and National Economic Development Authority (Neda) chief Ernesto M. Pernia said they are well underway to covering most of the items in the new list of flagship projects — airports, bridges, highways and other ports, water ports and seaports. Mr. Duterte’s managers have reportedly expanded the “Build, Build, Build” pipeline, which now includes more than 100 big-ticket infrastructure projects.

If Ilonggos and Cebuanos really wish to expedite the construction of the mega bridge in 2022 when Mr. Duterte has exited, all they need is to elect Senator Franklin Drilon as president.

A President Drilon can fast-track the implementation of such gargantuan project—only if there will be no more pandemic, or if the people will no longer need the vaccines to be purchased by the Philippine government starting 2021, and which will eat up a large chunk of the national budget and gobble up the funds intended for other state expenditures depending on the COVID-19 pandemic’s length of destruction to the human lives.

 

-o0o-

 

A President Drilon, who is a true-blooded Ilonggo, won’t allow a situation where he will be accused of ningas cogon if he can’t begin his charity at home, so to speak, once he occupies the top Malacanang portfolio. 

Even if he’s only a legislator, Drilon has successfully transformed Iloilo City as the new Singapore in terms of infrastructure development and tourism; he is now a cinch away from masterminding Iloilo City’s giant leap from a fastest-growing economy to become the mecca of trade and investment in collaboration with Mayor Geronimo “Jerry” Trenas and the Iloilo Business Club, among other stakeholders.

In the recent Iloilo Investment Forum at Courtyard by Marriott Iloilo in Mandurriao district, Iloilo City, Drilon disclosed that he had proposed a budget of P800 million for the construction of the North Iloilo River Avenue. 

The big project will be a four-lane, 5.5-kilometer thoroughfare complete with an esplanade and a bike lane, according to the senator. From Molo district, and will lead to the Megaworld Boulevard.

It is expected to provide better access for the development of the Municipality of Oton as part of Metro Iloilo.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, is a former editor of two dailies in Iloilo, Philippines)

 

 

There’s nothing to ‘sacrifice’ now?

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

—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

By Alex P. Vidal

IN April this year, or a month after the Philippines started to absorb the initial blows of COVID-19 pandemic, we wrote that proponents of the Panay-Guimaras-Negros (PGN) Island Bridges Project “should not sacrifice” the P275 billion project under the Duterte administration’s Build, Build, Build program “no matter what happens.”

We invoked the assurance made by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) on January 19, 2020 that the much-ballyhooed project will proceed this year, or tentatively in September 2020.

NEDA had pointed to the Investment Coordination Committee (ICC), which 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).

Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Mark Villar had assured the project’s feasibility study was already completed in 2019.

The article came after President Digong Duterte hinted in his  announcement weeks earlier 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 money went to the Social Amelioration Program (SAP).

-o0o-

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

“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,” read part of the article we wrote on April 13, 2020.

“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.”  

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.

-o0o-

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.

The project had been publicized repeatedly to be financed by China's official development assistance (ODA) loan

It appears now there’s nothing to “sacrifice”, in the first place, just in case the coronavirus will linger and our economy will suffer a tailspin, if Senator Frank Drilon is to be believed.

The Iloilo senator lamented in a recent statement: "Nadulaan na gana ang China because of the pandemic siguro. So subong nagapangita ang gobyerno nga makahulam sa iba nga sources kay indi na magsige ang China nga magfund.”

Let’s hope this isn’t true.

For the meantime, let’s continue to wait and see.

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

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.  

-o0o-

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.

-o0o-

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)

Zubiri adds confusion to Panay-Guimaras bridge

“Today, if you are not confused, you are not thinking clearly.”
--Irene Peter

By Alex P. Vidal

ONE of the reasons why the Philippines appears to be slow in terms of progress and sometimes has become the laughing stock of Asia is because of grandstanding politicians like Senator Miguel “Migz” Zubiri.
Zubiri has just added confusion to the already muddled Panay-Guimaras-Negros bridge project by announcing in his recent Iloilo City visit that the multi-billion infrastructure will begin its construction in 2021, or a year before President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s term will expire.
He was quoted in a report to have said: “I believe ang Iloilo-Guimaras (bridge) may budget na and I think ready na for first phase. So, daw ang siling ni Mark (Villar) groundbreaking will be 2021 basta ma-groundbreaker na okey na ina. That is on-going project.”
“Ginhambalan ko nga padayunon na sia didto sa Negros because it makes more sense because gamay man lang Guimaras. So, the enterprises and goods from Iloilo and Guimaras ma-deliver na didto,” he reportedly added.
Like any other politicians who wanted to ride on the issue, a potential blockbuster for the next elections, Zubiri invoked the August 3 incident in the Guimaras Strait where several motorboats capsized and several passengers were killed.

-o0o-


Zubiri made the statement without any detailed timeline, thus Ilonggos were made to believe that it’s “on the go” based on the “assurance” given to him by
Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) secretary Villar.
Zubiri apparently wasn’t aware that DPWH undersecretary for planning and public-private partnership Maria Catalina Cabral informed Senator Franklin Drilon earlier that the Department of Finance “will consider the funding” only after they have submitted the feasibility study to the National Economic and Development Authority’s (NEDA) Investment Coordinating Council.
Meaning there has been no black and white approval of the budget yet from the Department of Finance contrary to what Zubiri had told the Iloilo press.

-o0o-

Construction of the project, originally part of the administration’s “Build, Build, Build” program, is only targeted to commence in the second quarter of 2021, according to Villar in his most recent statement regarding the bridge.
Amid the confusion it would be better if proponents of the project designate only one official spokesperson to officially provide up-to-date details of the project to the public.
It appears now that so many politicians will just make random announcement on the project’s progress based on their own whims and convenience in order to get a free ride in the publicity.
Sooner or later, we trust our DPWH officials led by Villar to finish what they have started; we trust that they can soon begin the construction of the controversial project based on the proper dynamic and timeline enumerated in the feasibility study.
Everyone is excited to see the project completed by 2023, as promised by the Duterte administration, but politicians should refrain from issuing raw information and unverified statements that would only confuse the public.
(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

Bridge of deceit, nightmares and frustrations

"There comes a time when deceit and defiance must be seen for what they are. At that point, a gathering danger must be directly confronted. At that point, we must show that beyond our resolutions is actual resolve."
--Dick Cheney

By Alex P. Vidal

IF the Duterte administration will cancel the much-ballyhooed Iloilo-Guimaras-Negros Bridge Project estimated to be worth US $1 billion, it will be tantamount to canceling the dreams and aspirations of the entire Western Visayas altogether.
It will fiercely whip up mixed feelings of hatred, deceit, nightmares and frustrations for the entire Ilonggo populace.
Hatred at those who promised people in Western Visayas the moon and the stars.
Especially at politicians who used the project to prop up and deodorize their public image and candidacy in the recent elections to boot.
Nightmares and frustrations for those who had doggedly and passionately pinned their hopes on the dream bridge for a better future in terms of smooth and easy access from one island province to another, and to other regions thereafter.
The Ilonggos will never forgive the Duterte administration.

-o0o-

Ilonggos will think they have been conned, deceived, and taken for a ride for more than three years since the building of the mega project was first dangled to them by this administration.
For three years now, the bridge that would help expedite travel time and solve all major issues relating to transportation of goods and passengers to and fro the aforementioned regional islands, has been in their imagination and fantasy.
For three years now, Ilonggos tolerated and allowed politicians led by Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Mark Villar to loudly and proudly brag about the project and bring their minds in the world of ecstasy and fantasy.
When they were now nearing the climax of their hallucinations, the project would be scrapped in a snap of a finger?
Incredible. Unimaginable. Unacceptable. Horrendous.
Sinverguenza!

-o0o-

Let's hope that when Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia announced recently they won't push through with at least 75 major infrastructure projects "due to huge expenses and engineering issues", the Panay-Guimaras-Negros Bridge Project was not one of them.
The mammoth bridge project had been advertised as part of the Duterte administration's "Build, Build, Build" program and the bridge network is supposed to provide increased inter-connectivity in the provinces of Western Visayas and Cebu in Central Visayas.
If realized, it can stimulate economic activity in the two regions and help, in one way or another, in the decongest of Metro Manila in the process.
Let's hope it would not become a case of from "build, build, build" to tears, outrage and antipathy.
(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

SMC come lately

"Every project is an opportunity to learn, to figure out problems and challenges, to invent and reinvent."
--David Rockwell

By Alex P. Vidal

LET'S make it clear: San Miguel Corporation (SMC) never categorically confirmed it would submit an "unsolicited proposal" to build the Panay-Guimaras-Negros bridge contrary to reports earlier.
It was Senator Franklin Drilon who asked SMC President Ramon S. Ang to submit the unsolicited proposal out of his frustrations that nothing has been heard of the project since the Duterte administration dangled the proposal three years ago.
Drilon and Ang met recently in Leganes, Iloilo during the groundbreaking for a new beer factory there where the Ilonggo senator made the appeal.
As a courtesy, Ang reportedly told Drilon he would look into the proposal.
To "look into" it was the most logical and proper answer for a straightforward and frank suggestion.
"Looking into", however, is different from "has agreed to submit" the unsolicited proposal.
Drilon and Ang obviously were trying to be courteous and nice to each other, and some reporters took their conversations seriously and, to compound the matter, quoted both gentlemen out of context in one way or the other.

-o0o-

SMC can't just gate-crash in the Panay-Guimaras-Negros project which is being facilitated by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA).
If SMC is really interested, it can commence a different proposal probably after the first bridge has been finished (DPWH expects the project to be fully constructed in 2023).
That proposal should be for another bridge like one of the twin bridges now being enjoyed by the Cebuanos.
SMC can't squat on the same project already "started" by the DPWH.
Thus it's impossible for Ang to submit an unsolicited proposal for the same project in the same location when he is already aware of the existence of the one which is bruited to be part of the "Build, Build, Build" program of the Duterte administration.
If a project is initiated by a private sector it will have a different dimension and different mode of financial arrangements.

-o0o-

U.N. UPDATE: ‘Childhood is changing, and so must we’.
Since its adoption 30 years ago, the milestone Convention of the Rights of the Child and its near universal membership has created “unprecedented international solidarity around children’s rights,'' the Secretary-General said at a commemorative event an UN Headquarters on September 25, 2019.
The Convention is the most widely-ratified international human rights accord in history; a landmark achievement which meant “for the first time, governments explicitly recognized that children have the same human rights as adults”, UN chief António Guterres said, adding that the document put in the spotlight the “specific additional rights that recognize their special status as dependents.”
The high-level meeting at the 74th session of the UN General Assembly was geared towards celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Rights of the Child, highlighting progress made in the advancement of healthy and sustainable livelihoods, and a call to action for Member States to strengthen their commitments to the cause while recognizing new challenges.
To date, 196 countries have ratified the convention, with the exception of the United States of America, which has nonetheless signaled its intention to ratify with its signature.
Government actions and inactions, the Secretary-General noted, “have a greater impact on children than on any other group in society.” He urged all UN Member States “to give it their full backing.”
(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

Bridge project's identity crisis

"Everything you want is out there waiting for you to ask. Everything you want also wants you. But you have to take action to get it."
--Jules Renar

By Alex P. Vidal

TO whom will the Ilonggos listen and believe?
The question whether the proposed 14-kilometer Panay-Guimaras-Negros bridge project will push through has become a case of "too many cooks will spoil the broth."
Since 2016 when President Duterte assumed office, there has been multitudes of pronouncements that the construction of the multi-billion project, supposedly included under the administration's "Build, Build, Build" program, would start in 2017.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the National Economic Development Authority (Neda), and the Department of Budget are the three key government agencies involved in the project.
The project will never be materialized without the triumvirate's blessings and coordination.

-o0o-

The problem is there has been no particular agency tasked primarily to give the public updates on what is going on.
There were cases when DPWH said one thing, and the Neda said another thing.
No coordination; everyone is his own boss and authority when it comes to giving the public a bird's eye view about the project.
The identity crisis has exacerbated the delays since nobody is explaining what; no one is accountable when it comes to total disclosure of the project's status.
Everyone has turned into a guessing game; everyone has become skeptical and confused.
From 2017 until the third quarter of 2019, all the three agencies, particularly the DPWH and Neda, could report, so far, was that the project "is still undergoing a feasibility study" financed by the Chinese Government.
Since nothing has happened in as far as initial start of public works are concerned, so many politicians and organizations have joined the fray in calling for its construction soon.

-o0o-

Senator Christopher "Bong" Go, wooing the votes of Guimarasnons in the recent polls, promised to "push" for the bridge construction "soon."
Iloilo Governor Arthur "Toto" Defensor Jr. wished the bridge project was included in President Duterte's most recent State of the Nation Address (Sona), which never happened.
Senator Franklin Drilon told fellow Ilonggos during the turnover of the newly-restored University of the Philippines (UPV) main building at the UPV Iloilo City campus last month that "it's high time" the bridge was constructed.
The senator from Molo said he has talked with DPWH Secretary Mark Villar to commence the construction soon.
Drilon declared: “There is a feasibility study funded by China, one year of feasibility study which started this January and supposed to be completed by the end of the year. We do not know what exactly the status is but we do hope that this feasibility study is finished on time so that the construction can commence.”

-o0o-

Most recently, the Provincial Board Members League (PBML) in Western Visayas, headed by Domingo Oso, has called for the construction of the bridge, estimated to cost P14 billion, that would connect the islands of Panay, Guimaras and Negros Occidental.
More politicians and organizations in Panay and Negros are expected to release their own versions of "requesting the DPWH..." soon even as 2022, the year of the supposed completion of all the projects under the "Build, Build, Build" program, is near.
If these "requests" and "expectations" from politicians and organizations continue to pour desperately, this means the project doesn't have any specific or concrete calendar yet to commence.
If the government is hell-bent to start the construction of the project, there's no need for the likes of Drilon to remind the agencies concerned; there's no need for organizations like the PBML to "push" for the bridge's construction.

-o0o-

Last month, Anna Mae Yu Lamentillo, chairperson of the DPWH's "Build, Build' Build" Committee, said the Panay-Guimaras-Negros Bridge project's feasibility study "is expected to be completed within this year."
The first phase of the proposed project is the Panay-Guimaras Bridge, which will reportedly start in Leganes, Iloilo and will end in Buenavista, Guimaras while the second phase is the Guimaras-Negros Island Bridge, which will reportedly start in San Lorenzo, Guimaras and will end in Pulupandan, Negros Occidental.
The Provincial Development Council (PDC) of Negros Occidental endorsed the conduct of the feasibility study for the project to the Provincial Board and the Regional Development Council (RDC-6) in June this year.
(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)