Proposed highway may get possible funding

CEBU, Philippines - The Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center of the Philippines has included the proposed Cebu Trans-Axial Highway in the list of projects for possible funding from the Project Development and Monitoring Facility (PDMF).

The PDMF is a revolving fund created under Executive Order No. 8, series of 2010, which shall be used for the preparation of pre-feasibility, feasibility studies and tender documents for PPP projects, and assistance in the bidding process.

The highway was proposed by the late vice governor Gregorio Sanchez Jr.

Despite this, the Regional Development Council (RDC) in Central Visayas clarified that the proposed project is still in its conceptual stage.

The provincial government has reportedly spent P60 million to conduct the pre-feasibility study (PFS) when Sanchez and Governor Gwendolyn Garcia were still in good terms.

The consultants for the project were hired under Sanchez’ office but their contracts were not renewed after Sanchez died in April 29, 2011.

Months before his death, Sanchez was able to submit to Malacañang the documents on the proposed project that would traverse areas from Daanbantayan town in the north down to Santander town in the south.

One of the components of the Trans-Axial Highway is the access road to each town and city from the backbone of the Island of Cebu.

This is seen as a solution to the lack of development in the remote areas in the mountains of the province. 

Sanchez’s daughter, Engr. Grecilda “Gigi” Sanchez-Zaballero, earlier appealed to Garcia to pursue the Trans-Axial Highway.

The project is not among the priorities of the administration of Garcia whose term will end by June 30, 2013.

The proposed project was shelved after Garcia and Sanchez parted ways and clashed during the May 10, 2010 elections.

Meanwhile, gubernatorial candidate Hilario Davide III earlier said he will revive and implement the proposed project if he gets elected as governor.

Davide lost to Garcia in the 2010 polls and is now going against the governor’s brother, Pablo John. Davide is running under President Benigno Aquino’s Liberal Party. —JMO (FREEMAN)