San Miguel Corp. and the provincial government of Oriental Mindoro are in talks to build a 15-kilometer “super bridge” that will link Mindoro Island and Batangas province.
Oriental Mindoro Second District Rep. Alfonso Umali proposed the project in 2015, and it is now included in the ten programs of the Marcos administration for public-private partnership.
Oriental Mindoro Governor Humerlito Dolor is also pushing the construction of the super bridge project to help spur growth and development in Oriental Mindoro and other provinces in the MIMAROPA region such as Occidental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan.
“We have started bringing together global experts across disciplines, including a European architectural and engineering firm to do a technical feasibility study on how the bridge can be built sustainably to benefit both people and the environment,” said SMC president and chief executive Ramon Ang.
Ang said that since his last meeting with Dolor late last year, SMC’s team had engaged the services of a local company to initially do a bathymetric survey to measure water depth.
The bridge will start from Barangay Ilijan in Batangas, pass through Verde Island, and land in Barangay Sinandigan in Puerto Galera.
“We thank Gov. Dolor for pursuing this game-changing project and considering our company to be able to deliver a world-class bridge. It has faced a series of setbacks over the years, but we hope that together, we can finally bring the vision to fruition,” Ang said.
The bridge is expected to result in faster and more efficient transport of people and goods and spur local economic growth through job generation, higher investments and optimization of basic services such as water, power and telecommunications, among others.
San Miguel earlier secured a 35-year concession to design, build, operate and maintain the four-lane, 61-kilometer Nasugbu-Bauan Expressway project for P44.77 billion.
NBEX, which begins in Barangay Kaylaway, Nasugbu town, runs parallel to Tagaytay-Nasugbu and Palico-Balayan highways. The terminus of NBEX in Kaylaway connects the expressway to another SMC Infrastructure project—the Cavite-Batangas Expressway which leads to Tagaytay City and Silang, Cavite.
The company also sealed a 35 -year tollway concession agreement with the provincial government of Cavite for the construction and operations of the P27-billion Cavite-Batangas Expressway project.
The project involves the construction, financing, operation and maintenance of a 27.06-km toll road traversing the municipalities of Silang, Amadeo, Tagaytay, lndang, Mendez and Alfonso in Cavite and Nasugbu, Batangas.
