PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte led on Thursday the groundbreaking of the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) in Cordova town, Cebu to inspect the site where the P27.9-billion infrastructure will be built.
Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation chairman Manny Pangilinan, Presidential Legislative Liaison Office chief Adelino Sitoy, along with Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III, Vice Governor Agnes Magpale and Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña also attended the groundbreaking ceremony.
The CCLEX, which is one of the biggest infrastructure projects of the administration outside Metro Manila, will connect the municipality of Cordova to Cebu City, providing an alternate route going to the Mactan Cebu International Airport.
Pangilinan said the bridge will help ease traffic and improve the overall welfare of Cebuanos, adding that the construction is expected to generate 5,000 jobs.
He said once CCLEX is operational, each local government units will have share of the revenues.
The bridge will help boost the economy of Cordova town, Osmeña said, adding that it is the kind of opportunity that we should work on.
"It's always been my dream to make Cordova part of Cebu City. Now, it's going to be Cebu City as part of Cordova," the Cebu City mayor said.
Sitoy, who was the former mayor of Cordova, said he have dreamed of the project for 20 years.
"The start and possible completion (of the project) will fall under the administration of President Duterte to whom I owe everything and whom I consider to be the best hope for federalism in this country," Sitoy said.
The former mayor suggested that the bridge be named the Santo Niño Bridge, since it will allow Cordovanhons to attend the yearly religious and cultural celebration of the Fiesta Señor and Sinulog in Cebu City.
Sitoy said that if the proposals are approved, a coastal road with a rotunda will be built near the Pilipog Bridge, where the approach to the Cebu-Cordova bridge will be built.
Once the bridge will be operational, Sitoy said drivers may opt to directly go to the airport when passing the proposed rotunda.
Drivers may also choose to proceed directly to Barangay Punta Engaño where beaches in Lapu-Lapu City are located, without having to pass by Cordova town proper.
Construction of the bridge is expected to start in July this year, and work may be completed in 2020. (DDA/With JCR/SunStar Philippines)