Carlos G. Dominguez
Secretary of Finance
Public Works and Highways acting Secretary Roger Mercado; Public Works and Highways Undersecretary Emil Sadain; Finance Undersecretaries Mark Joven, Maria Edita Tan; officials from the Asian Development Bank, alternate Executive Director Paul Dominguez; Managing Director General Woochong Um; Deputy Director General Winfried Wicklein; and Country Director Kelly Bird: Good morning.
On behalf of the Philippine government, I thank the Asian Development Bank for being our most reliable multilateral development partner.
Since the start of the Duterte administration, the Bank has strongly supported our Build, Build, Build program. It has extended 2.3 billion US dollars in financing assistance to seven infrastructure modernization projects. These include the Malolos-Clark Railway, the Improving Growth Corridors in Mindanao Road Sector, the EDSA Greenways, and the Angat Water Transmission Improvement, among other big-ticket projects.
With the lifting of the pandemic-related restrictions, we have seen the metropolitan area return to pre-pandemic congestion. Although we have 30 bridges across major waterways of Metro Manila, they are insufficient to efficiently move vehicular traffic. Thus, we are planning to build 12 more iconic bridges in Metro Manila over the medium term.
Of these 12 bridges in the pipeline, three of them will now move to the actual implementation stage through a financing package amounting to 175.1 million US dollars or about 8.8 billion pesos from the Asian Development Bank.
These three bridges span over 3,000 meters across the Marikina River and will connect Metro Manila’s arterial roads. They will be called Marcos Highway–Saint Mary Avenue Bridge, Homeowner’s Drive–A Bonifacio Bridge, and Kabayani Street–Matandang Balara Bridge. The bridges will be constructed starting the first half of this year and are expected to be completed in 2026.
While addressing the heavy vehicular traffic flow in Metro Manila, a key design feature of these bridges across the Marikina River is their ability to absorb strong earthquake shocks and reduce flood risk in the area, making them climate- and disaster-resilient.
These bridges are crucial components of the Build, Build, Build program that will help our economy bounce back from the adverse effects of the pandemic. With their high multiplier effect and job-generating potential, investments in infrastructure will be the engine for our rapid economic recovery.
Again, we express our gratitude to the Asian Development Bank for its steadfast support of our infrastructure modernization program. With the generous assistance of our development partners, we are confident that we can rapidly return to the path of strong, inclusive, and sustainable growth for our people in the next few years.
Thank you.
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