THE proposed track oval project in Barangay Paknaan, Mandaue City, remains far from being construction-ready, with significant groundwork and funding requirements still standing in the way.
Although approximately 90 percent of the embankment work has been completed on the 3.6-hectare reclaimed property, city engineers say crucial preparatory phases, including dewatering and sheet piling, have yet to begin. These engineering interventions are each expected to take at least six months, pushing actual construction of the oval to sometime late next year, if everything goes according to plan.
“These are vital steps for a project on reclaimed land,” said Leny Denque, head of the City Engineering Office’s Construction Division and Site Development. “Dewatering is needed to extract groundwater trapped beneath the surface, which helps prevent land shrinkage and structural instability. Sheet piling, on the other hand, strengthens the soil to support future facilities,” she added.
Mayor Thadeo “Jovito” Ouano, who visited the site on Thursday, July 10, 2025, acknowledged the slow pace of progress and revealed that the City still needs to secure around P300 million to proceed to the next phase.
“The embankment alone already cost P200 million, including riprap and a perimeter fence. This is not something the City Government can fund entirely on its own,” he said.
Ouano said they plan to request financial assistance from the National Government to avoid diverting funds away from the City’s essential programs.
“We don’t want this to stall our social services, so we’re looking for ways to move forward without sacrificing our core programs,” he added.
He expressed hope that if funding is secured on time, the track oval may begin to take shape by the third quarter of 2026.
Ouano also emphasized that the delay was partly due to unforeseen technical requirements that emerged after further studies were conducted by consultants.
“Wa kini na-anticipate sa una, but after further assessments, nakita nga kinahanglan pa og engineering intervention aron ma-stabilize ang soil strata. Ang risk ani kung naay linog, posibleng maapektuhan sa liquefaction ang entire structure,” he said, indicating the need for soil stabilization to prevent liquefaction during an earthquake.
(This wasn’t anticipated at first, but after further assessments, it was found that more engineering intervention is needed to stabilize the soil strata. The risk of this is that if there’s an earthquake, the entire structure could be affected by liquefaction.)
He added that the road leading to the oval is also set to be paved.
Meanwhile, Denque explained that the initial phase of the project, originally awarded in 2023, included various sports facilities, such as tennis courts and a building for offices. However, the contract was later rescinded due to elevation deficiencies and updated consultant recommendations.
“The original design was no longer feasible. We lacked sufficient elevation to protect the development from sea level rise. That’s why the consultant recommended increasing the elevation to 2.45 meters,” Denque said.
The plan was then revised to focus solely on the embankment work, which was the only component retained in the current phase awarded to the contractor.
Denque added that a benchmark was established on-site based on updated elevation data and earlier references had become outdated, necessitating the change in strategy before implementation. / CAV