Seamless trips toward growth corridors

When motorists are not bogged down by potholes on our main thoroughfares – that’s good. When you can plan to arrive at a certain destination, with less traffic, that’s good too. When the journey to Subic or Clark is a “day trip” without spending a night there, that’s good news!

That good news  happens to us motorists when we take the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) or Subic Clark Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) for destinations to any point in Central Luzon – and then come back for dinner in Manila.

Then we make a wish: Why don’t they build more expressways? Why don’t they have an exclusive express-way for cargo trucks? Why don’t they bring expressways to places outside Metro Manila? Why can’t we Visayans and Mindanaoans experience the same seamless trips of Luzon’s expressways?

Now we have received pieces of good news!

Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) is spearheading all these earnest expressway-building initiatives. It’s timed with the Administration’s “Build, Build, Build!” program – and MPTC has earmarked a huge amount of P153 billion to fund such projects. 

I can mention the NLEX-SLEX Connector Road, where MPTC is pouring P55.9 billion for its construction. For the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX) project, MPTC has allocated P35.43 billion. As for the Cavitex C5 South Link -- to link expressways in the North and the South -- MPTC has earmarked P11.7 billion.

In the Visayas, the P27.9 billion Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway will soon begin construction, according to MPTC president and CEO Rodrigo Franco.

The Connector Road is truly a stuff of dreams. Imagine an elevated expressway – popularly known as “skyway” – traversing the entire expanse of the metropolis from Dau in Pampanga or Subic in Olongapo to Alabang in Muntinlupa!  

With the Connector Road, motorists will reach their north or south destinations in 15-20 minutes. Today, it takes almost two hours to arrive at either destination.

CALAX will relieve traffic congestion in the population centers of both Cavite and Laguna. This project is good for our people, and it is also good for our country: The expressway will bring efficiency to the transport of goods from industries in Cavite and Laguna.  

The Cebu-Cordova Link brings the Visayas into the development agenda of MPTC. The new bridge will ease traffic, raise the flow of commerce, business and development in Cebu.

This is according to  MPTC Chairman Manny Pangilinan, who added that   the Cordova project, when completed, will become the major gateway for tourism and development in Cebu.

Pangilinan disclosed that these projects are envisioned to support the government’s “Build Build Build” infrastructure program, which is aimed at moving the country forward by improving the economy of new growth corridors in Luzon and VisMin. 

What’s more, NLEX has been constructing additional lanes and exits, and expanding toll plazas and interchanges. SCTEX pavement improvement, traffic management and safety enhancements are also going on. A total cost of P1.8-B has been invested in these upgrades along the NLEX and the SCTEX.

“With these projects in the pipeline, we will see a great improvement in traffic decongestion in Metro Manila as we embark on more infrastructure projects to connect the North and the South,” Franco added.

By the looks of it, the Metro Pacific Group led by Manny Pangilinan is bent on  truly changing the Philippine landscape and introducing a new dimension to socioeconomic development. 

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It was a happy grand reunion of   the living members of the Lorenzana clan of Ilocos.  Lorenzanas  from all over the Philippines (Ilocos Sur, La Union, Ilocos Norte, Davao, Metro Manila, etc.) and abroad (USA, Canada) came to join the whole day festivities, and had fun meeting relatives they had not seen for a long time, or never met before.

The affair was held at the UP Bahay Kalinaw, Diliman. This was organized by the Felipe and Eugenia Lorenzana Heirs (FELHEIRS) led by its chair Dr. Florence Lorenzana Macagba Tadiar, and its president,  Felipe Lorenzana Santos.

The Lorenzana family originally came from Tagudin, Ilocos Sur, consisting of  the siblings  Felipe  Lorenzana and their spouses, Cecilio and Teodora Mina, Felix and Ambrosia Lardizabal, Jose and Nieves Carpio, Ambrosia and Aquilino Lelina. They were among the first converts to Protestantism in Northern Philippines by American missionaries.

Felipe and Eugenia Lorenzana became well known not only in the Philippines but  mainly among Ilocanos in Hawaii and California, for their famous well liked Lorenzana Bagoong and Patis from the 1930s to 1960s. They also supplied fishermen's needs (fishing nets and lamps) all over Northern Philippines and the Bicol Region. 

Cecilio became one of the first Protestant church bishops. His daughter, Avelina became the wife of former Senator Camilo Osias, who was also one of the first Protestants in La Union.

 Evelyn Lorenzana Mandac is a granddaughter of Bishop Cecilio and Teodora Lorenzana, and her mother, Noemi, was married to Gen. Manuel Mandac.  She finished her bachelor of music (major in voice) at the UP College of Music, Diliman. She was given commendation  for her achievement of excellence in the performing arts. She holds the distinction of  One Of The World’s Top Classical Singers in the New York Metropolitan Opera 1976-77 Auditions, becoming the only  Filipino Soprano to grace its stage, performing in more than 20 operas there. 

Awarded " Special  Recognition for Significant  Prestige" was  Maj. Gen. Delfin N. Lorenzana, for his appointment as the 36th  Secretary of National Defense. The general spent more than 10 years abroad,  serving as defense attaché, and presidential representative and head of the Office of Veterans Affairs at the Philippine Embassy in Washington, DC. In his youth, Delfin was an assistant of his grandfather Felipe, helping distribute patis and bagoong in the provinces. Delfin grew up in Pangasinan. 

 Dr. Florence Lorenzana Macagba Tadiar, the reunion committee chair,   is  a granddaughter of Felipe and Eugenia Lorenzana, and daughter of Dr. Crispina Lorenzana Macagba and Dr. Rufino N. Macagba, who established Lorma Hospital in 1931. Dr. Crispina was the first woman physician in the Ilocos after graduating from the UP College of Medicine.

Dr. Florence’s husband  is the late Justice Alfredo Tadiar, known as the Father of Alternative Dispute Resolution and an  Outstanding Silliman Alumnus in law.  

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