Major projects such as the new Bohol Airport which is  undergoing construction in Panglao should be done faster as the Duterte administration adheres the “value of impatience” in terms of achieving developmental projects in the country.

This was the point stressed by National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Director General Ernesto Pernia who personally inspected the on-going construction of the P7.7 billion airport project, the completion of which is a considered as a “game changer” in Bohol’s economy.

The NEDA chief who visited along with Gov. Edgar Chatto the airport site last Thursday told the project consultants and contractor to speed up the construction. He said that Bohol’s most desired development must accelerate as it will propel the province to globalization.

The country’s socio-economic planning secretary is a Boholano was primarily responsible for the approval of the additional P700 million budget for the three boarding bridges or tubes at the second floor of the Terminal building and the additional length of the runway of the new airport.

He  explained that being impatient means “intolerance to unnecessary delays that will hamper progress.”

Pernia’s “instruction” was pursuant to Duterte’s marching order for development projects to speed up.

The NEDA head was the keynote speaker during the observance of Rizal Day celebration held at the Plaza Rizal after a commemorative Mass at the St. Joseph Cathedral, this city last Friday.

The partnership of the province under Chatto and University of the Philippines (UP) Advisory Council then chaired by Pernia himself was considered crucial to influencing the past administration to finally implement the airport project.

While progress has to be “delivered fast,” both Pernia and Chatto at the same time agreed on Bohol to develop in a “well-planned” way.

As the airport completion should happen in the first quarter of 2018, Pernia disclosed the possibility of the implementation of the third Tagbilaran-Panglao island bridge, the feasibility study of which will commence next year.

Chatto and Pernia also visited the proposed site for the bridge, which full-blown project feasibility study and advanced engineering design are currently done according to Provincial Administrator Alfonso Damalerio II.

Pernia reiterated during the Rizal Day commemoration the value of impatience while invoking the love of country and courage of the national hero himself to achieve welfare for the Filipinos.

These characters, Pernia stressed, call for things “to get done” and they are in the set of values now applied by the national leadership.

He said the war on drugs alone is already expressing the president’s love of country.

Hastening major socio-economic and development programs further indicates nation-building and the country is to see so many infrastructure activities this new year of 2017, according to the NEDA chief.

Year 2017 will see, too, major significant progress in the energy development program of the province involving two major strategies—Cebu-Bohol power interconnection and establishment of Bohol island-based power plant.

AS FAST AS

POSSIBLE

Pernia expected a lot of “competition in technical expertise” and he further explained why the construction of the Panglao airport has to get “so fast” at even “24/7” working time if possible.

Globalization is making the economy borderless and the new Bohol airport is a determinant to the province’s competitiveness in the free flows of labor, capital, investments and talents.

Right on the project site with the governor, the NEDA head was briefed by the officials of the airport contractor, the Chiyoda-Mitsubishi Joint Venture (CMJV),  and manager of the Japan Airport Consultants (JAC) of the progress of the construction.

The CMJV reported the parallel construction of the runway and passenger terminal building as well as the control tower.

Pernia considered the modern Bohol airport to be of national significance as it will be an economic dynamo of a growing province in a major economic region.

The socio-economic planning secretary and the governor likewise visited the Cortes site for the modern Gov. Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital (GCGMH).

The existing hospital located in the city is to be upgraded at over P500 million while the entirely new one has yet to rise in Cortes.

The whole GCGMH modernization program is costing P2.2 billion.

The project groundbreaking this month will finally privilege Bohol to own what Pernia calls a “world-class hospital.”

The GCGMH modernization, variation design of the Panglao airport, and Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) are the three projects so far approved by the NEDA Board of the Duterte administration that directly benefit Bohol.

This was again confirmed by the Pernia who himself co-chairs the president in the NEDA Board.

In his same Rizal Day message, Pernia cited the dream to connect Bohol to Cebu by a super bridge across an about 27.5-kilometer distance above seawater.

The physical interconnectivity vision could take quite a long time to materialize as the project is yet to undergo a feasibility study even if there appear to be interested partners, according to the NEDA head.

The Cebu-Bohol bridge as well as the proposed Ubay-Pres. Garcia bridge and Bohol-Leyte bridge via Pres. Garcia to Maasin have been integreted in the Bohol spatial development framework for 2017-2028.

The framework was adopted and approved by the Provincial Development Council (PDC), which chairman is the governor, the other week with Pernia’s director for Region 7, Efren Carreon, gracing the full-council meeting. (Ven rebo Arigo)