Government Proposes Inter-Island Bridge Connecting Panay, Guimaras & Negros

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is currently drafting a feasibility study in creating an inter-island bridge connecting three major islands in Western Visayas. The study is expected to be completed before 2020.

Anna Mae Lamentillo, chairperson of the Build, Build, Build Inter-agency Committee, said in a press briefing in Malacañang: “The feasibility study for the Panay-Guimaras-Negros (bridge) is expected to be completed this year.”

Lamentillo also added that the DPWH is cautious in creating and designing the project, “given its magnitude.”

“May requirement po kasi (there’s a requirement). For an inter-island bridge, for example, may required na pre-feasibility study, feasibility study, and detailed engineering design,” she said.

Currently, the proposed bridge’s feasibility study is under CCC Highway Consultants Co., Ltd. of the People’s Republic of China.

Priority Project of Build, Build, Build

The proposed Panay-Guimaras-Negros project is part of the priority projects under the ‘Build, Build, Build’ Program of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Once completed, the bridge will become an alternative route for anyone traveling across Western Visayas. The government hopes that this could help prevent unfavorable events from happening–such as the recent Iloilo-Guimaras Straight sea mishap that killed 31 people.

According to the project’s profile, the two proposed bridges are the Panay-Guimaras Bridge that will start in Leganes, Iloilo and will end in Buenavista, Guimaras. The second one is the Guimaras-Negros Island Bridge, which will start and end in San Lorenzo, Guimaras and Pulupandan, Negros Occidental.