Loan Deal for Panay-Guimaras Bridge Set for September Signing

By Joseph Bernard A. Marzan

The Panay-Guimaras-Negros (PGN) Bridge project is moving closer to realization as the loan agreement for its construction is expected to be signed by September this year, according to Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas.

In a statement on Monday, March 3, Treñas, the outgoing chairperson of the Regional Development Council’s Infrastructure Development Committee, announced that civil works for the project are scheduled to begin in July 2026, with a targeted completion date of June 2028.

Treñas clarified to the Daily Guardian that only Section A, which connects Panay and Guimaras islands, will be completed by 2028.

This upcoming loan agreement follows a US$56.6-million deal signed between the Philippine government and the Export-Import Bank of Korea-Economic Development and Cooperation Fund (KEXIM-EDCF) for the bridge’s engineering services.

In December 2023, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) awarded a P2.671-billion detailed engineering design contract to a joint venture of South Korean firms, including Yooshin Engineering Corporation, Kyong-Ho Engineering and Architects Co., Ltd., Dohwa Engineering Co., Ltd., Soosung Engineering Co., Ltd., and Dasan Consultants Co., Ltd.

Section A spans a total of 13 kilometers, including a 4.97-kilometer sea-crossing bridge connecting Leganes, Iloilo, and Buenavista, Guimaras. The DPWH has estimated the cost of this section at P57.702 billion.

Proposals for the bridge date back to a March 1999 report from a Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) study, which recommended conducting feasibility studies for a bridge linking Iloilo and Guimaras.

The project was also identified as a priority under the Duterte administration’s Build Build Build program.

In 2018, the DPWH signed a $13.4-million grant agreement with the China International Development Cooperation Agency for the project’s feasibility study.

CCCC Highway Consultants Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company, completed the feasibility study in August 2019, outlining the alignments, locations, and recommendations for the bridge.

However, in 2020, then-Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon revealed that Chinese financiers had lost interest in funding the project.