Cavite-Bataan underwater tunnel proposed

Two Japanese firms are seriously pursuing a proposal to help build a 15-kilometer underwater tunnel that will connect the provinces of Cavite and Bataan.

Itochu Corp. and NKK of Japan are submitting a formal feasibility study to the government through Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) chairman Felicito Payumo.

The construction of a $4-billion to $5- billion underwater tunnel will complete the radial network for Luzon which will specially benefit the Subic Freeport.

Payumo pitched yesterday the idea to members of the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (Finex), stressing that such a project would help decongest the existing roads and highways and cut travel time.

Payumo warned that if government does not undertake steps to improve its radial road network, "we will choke in the future."

He said the proposed underwater channel would be known as the Trans-Manila Bay Crossing. It would stretch from Naic, Cavite to the islands of Corregidor, Fraille and Caballo before ending at Mariveles, Bataan.

The first six kilometers, Payumo said, will be a suspension bridge connecting Mariveles and Corregidor while the tunnel portion will be from Naic to Caballo island.

Financing for the proposed project, Payumo said, could be sourced from official development assistance funds such as those coming from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).