The third and maybe the last bridge

The prospect of the realization of "the third bridge" between the island of Cebu and the island of Mactan has gained popularity with the serious intent of a private conglomerate to finance the undertaking through public-private partnership. It was even dubbed as a "done deal," something which will surely excite a lot of people who equates development with the construction of a lot of infrastructure. Not that I disagree, for as one who worked in this sector for most of my professional life, I believe infrastructure development is crucial in the growth of cities and nations. And the Philippines was lagging behind for decades.

We have written three articles on this very topic a few months back, so it might be good to revisit the issues as we wait for the completion of the study currently undertaken by the private group. At first, the idea was simply floated in newspaper reports by well-meaning friends and public officials, or even filed as a bill in Congress. All discussions basically meant one thing - it was a suggestion or an idea without a concrete technical proposal and funding. It was similar to the private sector-proposed Manila airport, which to this date remained as a suggestion, or at the very best, a press release. There are procedures for real projects.

As for the third bridge, or actually, a third "link," since there is decision yet if it will be one, or a subterranean tunnel, or a land+sea one grade link, the "suggestion" needs basically a Feasibility Study, and all the technical studies associated with it, as maybe required for official approval by the government. It was submitted to the DPWH but I am not really quite sure if that was funded. This is where most project ideas stall - there are no pre-investment studies and worse, there was no funding even for these. When private sector comes into the scene, that speeds that up a bit - they can readily set aside money for the studies required.

And they have. The proponents can hope that 1) the studies will show it's feasibility (for both the private proponent and the government), 2) its attractive enough for them to propose something, and 3) the government will agree and come up with it's part of the deal (and even then, it may still not be a done deal). No. 1 is important because if it fails, the private sector will simply shy away and leave. It's not as if this is the first study done. Around 2 years ago, another conglomerate, a rival of the present, one did some studies for exactly the same project, and decided they didn't have the appetite for it and may consider it at a later time. Mind you, when a project is found not feasible, it may just be that it is not feasible at this time.

What's crucial at this stage is to realize there are three aspects that needs to be considered: 1) land use/urban design, 2) transport/other technical interface, and 3) the financial statement and profitability. On item 3, we need to always remember, private firms do not offer projects for us just because they love us. Sometimes, neither do politicians and other public officials, but that's another story. Business is business, and if the balance sheets fail to register a margin of return, and/or the risks are too high, proponents simply balk. Even in the PPP program, some prospective bidders simply don't submit.

In the land use/urban design aspect, maybe we should just throw this out of the window because nobody's talking about it. Admittedly it's difficult, the Metro Cebu LGUs are simply too fragmented to agree what's good for all of us. They even argue on where the third link will connect to. And no one has defined yet what will happen to the overall land use and urban design picture of the metropolis once a new transport link is inserted. It will affect the lifestyle and daily habits of Cebuanos - but how? One thing is sure, for a huge infrastructure this size, certain sectors and areas will be disadvantaged. Who's looking after this concern?

We can just watch and see. If this will prosper, then we will have a third bridge. Unfortunately for those who wish more bridges, this will be the last one. One salient feature of a PPP or joint venture project is its exclusivity. Since the private proponent gets his return from toll fees for using the bridge, any agreement will surely include provisions that no other bridge(s) shall be constructed between the two islands which will compete with this one. Well, I'm not even fully convinced we need this third one, how much more for a fourth one. As I said, let's wait and see. Maybe the studies will convince us.