The P16-billion Cebu Bus Rapid Transit System (BRT) project will still be pursued, but it is not among the flagship projects of the Duterte administration.
“The project is definitely on; not shelved. It’s not among this administration’s 75 flagship projects as it had been processed and approved under the previous administration,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said in an email.
Neither is the proposed Metro Cebu Integrated and Intermodal Transportation System, which is supposed to include the Cebu BRT, on the list.
An image of the Cebu BRT project may be found among the featured projects on the build.gov.ph site, but the project is not listed among the 31 Department of Transportation (DOTr) projects under the Build Build Build program of the current administration.
Clicking on the image or the name of the project would bring one to DOTr’s list of 31 projects, which includes the Metro Manila BRT Line 1 and 2 (Quezon Avenue and Central Corridor, respectively).
For Central Visayas, only the Mactan Cebu International Airport project and the New Bohol (Panglao) Airport Development, Operations and Maintenance Project are listed as flagship projects.
The Cebu BRT project is also not listed among the public-private partnership (PPP) projects of the current administration.
But the Cebu BRT Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Project is.
Ferdinand A. Pecson, executive director of the PPP Center, said they are not involved in the “build” component of the project. Only the O&M component will be pursued through PPP.
The Cebu BRT project has been delayed for more than four years. It was approved for financing by the World Bank in September 2014 yet. The loan has a closing date of June 30, 2021.
A report by the World Bank in December 2018 noted that the project was “reviewed by NEDA Investment Coordinating Committee in 2017 as part of DOTr's request for additional budget for the right of way, and then in July 2018, DOTr committed to the ICC to implement the project.”
In September 2018, the World Bank report said the DOTR signed the contracts with the Technical Support Consultant (to help on project management and operational issues) and Social Management Consultant (to prepare social management plan for existing operators/drivers).
“TSC is mobilizing its team and has been working with DOTr and DED (detailed engineering design) firm on plans to accelerate the project implementation,” the report stated.
During the Dutertenomics 2.0 on Monday, January 28, Pernia said the government has been making definite progress in implementing infrastructure projects.
As of Monday, he said the Cabinet-level NEDA Board has approved 61 big-ticket projects with a combined estimated project cost of P2.73 trillion.
Of the 75 infrastructure flagship projects, 44 are under various stages of implementation, 24 under pre-investment study and 7 under review. (Ventures Cebu)
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