Cebu seeks national funding for Metro Cebu Expressway project

Local

By Kaiser Jan Fuentes

THE Cebu Provincial Government has admitted it cannot sustain the multibillion-peso Metro Cebu Expressway and is now seeking national funding to move forward with the long-delayed infrastructure project.

Governor Pamela Baricuatro on Wednesday, August 27, admitted that while her administration backs the 74-kilometer highway project, the Province has no financial capacity to push it through.

“This is a national project, not a project of the Province,” Baricuatro told reporters. “Nindot man ta ni siya nga project kay makatabang siya pag-decongest. But we need to know if there is a budget for this in 2026.”

The Metro Cebu Expressway, with a projected cost of P94 to P96 billion, was designed to connect Danao City in the north to Naga City in the south, serving as an inland alternative to the heavily congested coastal roads.

Construction began in 2018 under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) but has suffered repeated setbacks due to design changes, lapses in environmental compliance, unstable terrain, and delays in acquiring land.

In 2023, a landslide in Naga damaged part of the route.

The following year, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources–Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB) issued a cease-and-desist order after discovering the absence of an Environmental Compliance Certificate.

Although the order has since been lifted, collapsed sections of the expressway still need repair.

Baricuatro revealed that her team found no clear allocation for the Metro Cebu Expressway in the proposed 2026 budget, raising doubts about whether the project can move forward without national intervention.

She noted that proposals have been made to implement the project through a public-private partnership (PPP), but expressed reservations about imposing toll fees on motorists.

“Pero mas maayo unta matagaan ni og budget para magamit jud ang Expressway without any toll fee,” she said.

Her predecessor, former governor Gwendolyn Garcia, earlier took over as project proponent after DPWH removed the expressway from its flagship list.

Garcia also explored a PPP arrangement but progress remained slow.

DPWH’s last report in 2023 said Segment 3A of the expressway, covering 4.20 kilometers from Naga City to Minglanilla, was 97.13 percent complete. Other sections, however, were left largely unfinished.

The project’s three main segments cover 25.20 kilometers from Minglanilla to Cebu City and Mandaue/Consolacion; 23.36 kilometers from Mandaue/Consolacion to Danao; and 8.38 kilometers from Naga to Minglanilla under two sub-segments.

If national funds are secured, Baricuatro said the project would need to undergo a new round of bidding to comply with updated safety and environmental standards.(MyTVCebu)