Payumo bares Luzon plans

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) chairman Felicito Payumo disclosed over the weekend his grandiose plans for the development of Luzon.

In a presentation to participants of a journalism seminar jointly sponsored by the Economic Journalists of the Philippines (EJAP) and San Miguel Corp. (SMC) in Subic, Payumo revealed a proposal to construct an underwater tunnel from Naic, Cavite to Mariveles, Bataan.

He said the construction of the underwater tunnel would complete a radial highway network for the National Capital Region and Luzon.

The underwater tunnel project was first proposed to Payumo by the Japanese steel firm NKK.

The estimated cost of the project was placed at $4 billion which Payumo said could be proposed for funding by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) or through some build-operate-transfer (BOT) scheme.

Payumo admitted that the tunnel project, which would cover only 15 kilometers, is more of a "legacy project" which would have immense benefits for Luzon.

He pointed out that the tunnel project would just be part of the overall road network plan for Luzon which includes linking the vital Subic and Clark freeports in order to decongest Manila.

Payumo said that the traffic congestion problem of Metropolitan Manila is due to the failure to complete the radial network.

What is currently in existence are crescent road systems such as the South Expressway and the C-5.

The tunnel project, Payumo said, is modeled after the Tokyo tunnel system.