Cebu - The Municipal Council of Liloan is asking the Department of Public Works and Highways to change the exit point of the Cebu North Coastal Road project, which is currently under construction.
The council has approved a resolution of Councilor Francisco Commendador III, chairman of the council committee on public works, requesting DPWH Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane to intercede for the exit point to be diverted from the front yard of the San Fernando Rey Parish Church to a point before the Suba Bridge.
Vice Mayor Thelma Jordan said they have also asked Governor Gwendolyn Garcia to intervene so that the necessary change can be implemented before the project is completed. Construction of the coastal road is scheduled to be completed within the year.
“The use of the church’s facade or property is not unlike tearing away part of the church’s holiness…it amounts to sacred desecration,” Commendador said.
The Cebu North Coastal Project will cross the Suba Bridge on its way to the national road and cut across the front yard of the century-old San Fernando Rey Parish Church, a historical landmark in the municipality.
The council said diverting the exit route towards the shoreline is a more convenient and less complicated option, as only few houses or private structures will be affected.
The P2.3-billion road project cuts through Mandaue City and the towns of Consolacion and Liloan in an effort to cut travel time to northern Cebu.
Also known as the Mandaue-Consolacion-Liloan Project, the Cebu North Coastal Road Project was identified 14 years ago by the 1994 JICA-Assisted Cebu Integrated Area Development Masterplan Study as one of the basic infrastructures needed in Metro Cebu. — Garry B. Lao/JMO (THE FREEMAN)