FACT CHECK: Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge project started before Marcos Jr.’s term

Claim: A social media post says that the Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge is an infrastructure project of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The Facebook video has 22,900 reactions, 5,300 shares, and 377,000 views as of writing.

Bataan-Cavite link idea pitched in 1987: According to a report by Inquirer.net, former Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority chair Felicito Payumo pitched the idea of a bridge-tunnel linking Bataan and Cavite in 1987 during his first term as Bataan representative. Payumo brought up the idea again in 2016 to “push growth” outside of Metro Manila.

Under Duterte’s BBB Program: The project was listed under former president Rodrigo Duterte’s Build, Build, Build (BBB) infrastructure projects in November 2019 as the Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge (BCIB). 

The National Economic and Development Authority approved the BCIB in 2020 with a budget of P175.7 billion. The bridge will run for 32.15 kilometers with four lanes starting from Barangay Alas-asin in Mariveles, Bataan, crossing Manila Bay and terminating in Barangay Timalan in Naic, Cavite.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) signed a contract for the BCIB’s engineering design in October 2020.

According to a BusinessWorld report last March, DPWH Secretary Emmanuel Bonoan said that the detailed engineering is about 70% complete. The construction of the bridge is slated to start in late 2023. – Laurice Angeles/Rappler.com

Laurice Angeles is a Chemistry graduate at the University of the Philippines-Diliman. She is a volunteer under Rappler’s Research unit.

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