MANILA, Philippines – The Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge will now cost P44 billion more than initially expected and might now be completed after the Marcos administration’s term in 2028.

In a Malacañang press briefing on Friday, October 13, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) announced the approved changes to the cost and implementation timeline of the bridge. The project will now cost P219.3 billion, up from the initial cost of P175.6 billion, and the implementation period will now stretch to December 2029.

“The changes have been approved to accommodate an updated detailed engineering design that utilizes superior construction materials and a stronger bridge structure. Additionally, the cost was adjusted to account for inflation,” NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said.

At 32.15 kilometers long, the Bataan-Cavite bridge will stretch over the waters of Manila Bay to link the two provinces from Barangay Alas-asin, Mariveles, Bataan to Barangay Timalan, Naic, Cavite. It will be one of the longest bridges over water in the world, after the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge.

Once completed, Balisacan said that it could cut travel time from Bataan to Cavite from 4 to 5 hours to just 30 to 45 minutes. He also said that it would bring “economic benefits for both provinces” and also “decongest traffic in Metro Manila” since travelers between the provinces would no longer have to pass through the capital.

According to a July update by the Department of Works and Highways (DPWH), the project will be divided into seven contract packages. The design will also include a long cable-stayed bridge at the portion between Cavite and Corregidor Island, with a tower rising 380 meters from the sea level.

The DPWH also said it aimed to obtain the Asian Development Bank’s approval for the loan by November 2023. The bridge was also originally expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2028.

First dreamed up during the Duterte administration’s Build Build Build program, the project may not even be completed during the term of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.. But the NEDA secretary emphasized that massive infrastructure projects such as this should continue, regardless of who sits in Malacañang.

“We look at the timeframe and the deployment of resources, but I think we are not behaving as if we do this project because we wanted to be the one to inaugurate it. Hindi dapat ganun eh (It shouldn’t be like that),” Balisacan said.

“We see it as part of the broad program for the modernization, transformation of our country and it doesn’t matter who will eventually inaugurate it,” he added. – Rappler.com

FACT CHECK: Idea for Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge project first presented in 1987