Bicol Region Infrastructure and Urban Planning Thread

[lochinvar]

Either naligao and proyekto o niligaoan na pag-isipan muna. Sana matuloy.

[iamjomar]

i'm crossing my fingers now,hehehe

[mach_5]

Originally Posted by wheel of steel

Wowhhhh!!! Ang galennnggg... he he he he...

Expressway from Calamba to the tip of Sorsogon can be done in 6 to 8 years time. So if our government start the construction next year we will be fully utilized the hiway in 2015.
Travelling from Manila to the gate way to visayas by just 7 hrs.

[iamjomar]

travel time would have cut by then.

[lochinvar]

By how much, by about Mach 5?

[mach_5]

Originally Posted by lochinvar

By how much, by about Mach 5?

LL by mach 5, its only a matter of minutes and you will be there.

[Goku_25]

Any Updates?

[wheel of steel]

Albay Gov. outlines 3-year business strategy to boost investments

LEGAZPI CITY, Albay Governor Joey Sarte Salceda has outlined his 3-year business plans designed to propel economic activity in the province under the Albay Mabuhay program.

As a flagship program of his administration, Salceda said the program is a strategic initiative to improve the business climate that would increase investments in the area and consequently create more jobs for Albayanos.

The program was formally launched recently, with an orientation workshop attended by stakeholders and concerned department heads that would take the lead in implementing the program, the governor said.

The governor said on top of the business strategy is the development a road network that would link Albay to the Province of Sorsogon, through the southernmost upland area in the towns of Guinobatan, Daraga, Camalig and Legazpi City dubbed as “GUICADALE.”

The GUICADALE project would develop the area into a business relocation site as well as extension site for regional government agencies.

He said the project would definitely minimize the threat of volcanic eruptions, flood, lahar and other disasters brought by Mayon Volcano and typhoons that would hit Albay specially in the lowland area where most of the business and trade activities are presently located.

Moreover, the construction of Daraga International Airport in Barangay Alobo, in Daraga town will also form part of the Albay Mabuhay program, the airport would boost the province tourism potentials, as the facility will play an integral part to intermodal transport system for Bicol region, according to Salceda.

Other priorities of the program are the rehabilitation of the insolvent and mismanage Albay Electric Cooperative (ALECO); the Eco-cultural and Tourism Development; and the Albay Action on Climate Change a vigorous information and education campaign to address Global Warming.

[bledzoe]

Arroyo birthday gift to son: P3B worth of projects

By Juan Escandor Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:24:00 09/05/2008

LIBMANAN, CAMARINES SUR—The Bicolanos of Camarines Sur province have billions of reasons to be thankful on the birthday of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s son on Thursday.

On the 34th birth anniversary of Rep. Dato Arroyo of Camarines Sur’s first district, Ms Arroyo brought cheer to Libmanan residents when she announced several projects lined up until 2010 for the district.

Altogether, the total cost of the projects amounted to more than P3 billion.

Ms Arroyo told a crowd in the village of Bahay here that her administration was setting up a $28-million biomass power plant (BPP), which is expected to generate 10 megawatts of electricity using agricultural wastes like coconut husks, pili nut shells, grass and other biomass that can be fed to its engine.

P129M for reforestation

Saying she was giving out gifts on her son’s birthday, Ms Arroyo also told residents she would be distributing checks amounting to P129 million for reforestation projects in the 10 towns of the first district.

She also announced the start of the implementation of the Libmanan-Cabusao irrigation and dam project worth P700 million, which will improve irrigation in 4,000 hectares. She said the bidding of the project had already been opened.

Ms Arroyo said the irrigation and dam project in the towns of Libmanan and Cabusao sought to redesign the irrigation facility here from a motor pump-driven to gravity-driven irrigation facility with the construction of a dam.

She also said P600 million had been allotted for the embankment of the Bicol River in Libmanan town.

Another P800 million has been earmarked for the building of a bridge from Libmanan to Canaman in order to shorten travel time—to 20 minutes from an hour—going to Naga City.

18 months to build

The first of its kind in Camarines Sur, the BPP will augment the supply of electricity in Dato’s residential town once it is operational.

Martial Beck, chief executive officer of Novergy, a French company contracted to build the BPP, said construction would take 18 months so that by early 2010 the project shall have been finished.

Beck said the BPP would require 200 tons of agricultural wastes every day, or 20-30 trucks of them, to produce the 10-MW power.

Ms Arroyo said that being a watershed area, Camarines Sur’s first district was very important for reforestation as part of the Bicol River Basin Water Management Project (BRBWMP) that the Philippine government and the World Bank agreed upon in 2001.

The BRBWMP aims to improve the watershed areas, water control and irrigation in the Bicol River Basin area.

On Monday, Ms Arroyo was in Camarines Norte province for groundbreaking ceremonies, lowering the time capsule of a biomass boiler facility (BBF) in the sprawling complex of Pan Century Surfactants Inc. (PCSI), which will invest $1 million in the project.

PCSI is an Indian-owned company operating a chemical plant that produces premium quality fatty alcohol, fatty acids and refined glycerin.

Tax complaints

The occasion was attended by Jose Panganiban Mayor William Lim; Barangay Osmeña chair Salvador Tabirao; Dinesh Shukla, PCSI president and chief executive officer; Hanuman Prasad Jalan, PCSI vice president for finance; Nitin Janarda Deshmukh, PCSI assistant vice president for marketing, and Shishir Garg, PCSI finance manager.

Ed de Leon, director of the Philippine Information Agency in Bicol, said Ms Arroyo also sought to thresh out the complaints that the PCSI had raised about high water rates and the P20-million tax the Bureau of Internal Revenue had demanded from the Indian company.

De Leon said Ms Arroyo met with PCSI officials but made no specific commitments on the issues they raised.

He said the PCSI had been operating in Camarines Norte since November 2005, producing refined glycerin and fatty acid residue that are used mainly in making detergents, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and personal care products.

A corporate profile of the PCSI showed that its owner, the Aditya Birla Group, is among the largest Indian business houses with more than $5.6 billion in revenues over its 50 years of operation in India and 30 years operation outside its country of origin, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Egypt and the Philippines.

[wheel of steel]

Son, please don't ever forget to bring back the services of PNR to Legazpi. It such a paramount importance not just to the economy of Bicol but to the convenience of the pockets of every Filipino. Always remind your mama....

[Goku_25]

An infrastructure news from Naga City Thread

Originally Posted by garzland

Construction of Naga City bridge bypass road pushed
By Juan Escandor Jr.

NAGA CITY---With the absence of a road linking the newly constructed multimillion-peso Mabulo bypass bridge here, a prelate and town dads had pushed for the construction of a 1.6-kilometer bypass road for the bridge to function as an alternate route to this city and its neighboring towns.

Archbishop Leonardo Z. Legazpi of the Archdiocese of Caceres, in a letter addressed to Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), expressed concern “that the admirable objectives of said Mabulo By-pass Bridge will not be fully achieved if the Milaor Diversion Road component of said bridge will not be implemented.”

In the same spirit, the Sangguniang Bayan of Gainza passed two resolutions asking the DPWH to construct the bypass road starting after the bridge approach at the junction of Mabulo-Gainza provincial road in Sabang, Naga City and ending at San Jose, Milaor, Camarines Sur.

The New Mabulo Bypass Bridge was constructed in 2001 at the tune of P145,833,788.35, however, the purpose of which the bridge was constructed was not attained due to the non-construction of the road component from Milaor-Naga Road crossing the Gainza-Naga Road, according to an audit report of Aristoteles P. Ilarde, supervising auditor of the Commission on Audit.

In the same report, Ilarde pointed out that the bypass bridge will decongest traffic at the New Mabulo Bridge to improve the flow of goods and services and reducing the concentration of transport vehicles along the Naga Central Business District.

“It will pave the way for the socioeconomic development of the other municipalities which are part of the Metro Naga area, specifically Gainza and Camaligan, which will be transformed as expansion areas for Naga City’s land-space requirements,” it added.

Ilarde’s report said that “had the road component was constructed the New Mabulo Bypass Bridge could had been in its full capacity and congestion of traffic in the corners of Gainza-Naga Road could had been avoided.”

Early this year, Ebdane has requested Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya the release of funds in the amount of P4.18 million for the preliminary detailed engineering of the bypass road to be charged against the P338 million allocation for detailed engineering under the so-called “Other Road Projects in the MTPIP”.

The construction of the bypass road has been endorsed by Second District Congressman Luis R. Villafuerte as he requested for the urgent allocation and release of funds needed for the conduct of the detailed engineering design.

Congressman Diosdado Macapagal Arroyo, first district representative of Camarines Sur, has also endorsed the project to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in which he reiterated that its construction would help decongest traffic, reduce concentration of transport vehicles along Naga City Central Business District and pave the way for socioeconomic development of other neighboring municipalities.

But Orlando Roces, DPWH Bicol regional director, revealed the project had no budget yet even though he said Ebdane had already requested the Department of Budget and Management to release funds for the construction.

[[dx]]

Originally Posted by gcdelapaz

Start of construction of
Bicol international airport in Albay seen
By Florencio P. Narito

LEGAZPI CITY – The development of the proposed Bicol International Airport (BIA) at Brgy. Alobo, Daraga, Albay is expected to move faster with the appointment of Daraga Mayor Cicero Triunfante as chairman of the Special Technical Working committee (STWC) vice Airport Manager Prisco St. domingo of the Air Transportation Office (ATO) who remains as vice chairman.

Board member Neil Monatallana, chairman of the Technical Working and Communication (DOTC) has already finished the detailed engineering design and the parcellary survey.

“We have started the appraisal of lots that will he occupied by the BIA but we are encountering some problems on the valuation,” Montallana said.

He said that the two groups had committed that they would finish their tasks before the first week of December 2008.

The national government will purchase 181 hectares from landowners in the barangays of Gapo, Alobe, Burgos and Del Rosario, but 10 hectares of which are indented for relocation of the affected residents. The runway will extend from Brgy. Bascaran to Brgy. Burgos, Montallana said.

He explained that only P85 million out of the P250 million released by the national government will be used to purchase lots.

If the two groups fail to negotiate with the landowners to sell their lots, the government can resort to expropriation. In that case, the landowners would be disadvantaged because the government will deposit only 15 percent of the appraised value of the land while the case is being her heard in court, Montallana pointed out.

Recently, Mayor Triunfante presided over a meeting of the acquisition as some land owners what to sell their properties at higher appraise value.

Montallana said however, that the value of the property offered for sale to the government will depend on the zonal valuation made by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and the Land Bank (LB).

From the Legazpi City thread

[wheel of steel]

http://balita.ph/2008/12/03/p800-m-t...nes-sur-towns/

P800-M twin bridges over Bicol River to link Camarines Sur towns

December 3, 2008 6:44 pm by pna

LEGAZPI CITY, Dec. 3 — Funds of over P800 million have been assured by Malacañang for the construction of two bridges over the Bicol River that would open shorter access between the prime town of Libmanan and the commercial district of Naga City.

Rep. Dato Arroyo of Camarines Sur's first district, gave priority to this project to spur economic development in the area.

Engr. Eduardo Talastas of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for Bicol said Wednesday: "We see no problem in so far as funds for this important project is concerned as no other than President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had given her assurance to this effect."

Early next year, the construction of these twin bridges linking Libmanan with Canaman and Magarao towns would begin, he said.

Libmanan, a first class municipality and home to the presidential son, belongs to the first district of the province while Canaman and Magarao are parts of the second district that also includes the highly urbanized and booming City of Naga, Bicol’s religious capital.

The proposed Libmanan-Canaman Bridge will be a 400-meter structure crossing over the Bicol River and also link an islet composed of three barangays with the Camarines Sur mainland.

The first structure will be a 100-meter hanging concrete bridge from the Libmanan area into the islet while the second is a 300-meter similar structure from the islet to Canaman.

These bridges will shorten travel time from Libmanan to Naga City by about 45 minutes and virtually put Rep. Arroyo’s town on the contiguity of the city’s metropolitan area.

The project was endorsed by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) for an amount of P886 million and its funding has been included in the 2009 national budget together with the P4-billion appropriated for the flood control and watershed management components of the Bicol River Basin and Watershed Management Project (BRBWMP). (PNA)

[[dx]]

The San Fernando, Camarines Sur-Oas, Albay Diversion Road
Source: UP Ibalon Bicol

The construction of a San Fernando, Camarines Sur to Oas, Albay bypass (diversion) road has recently been approved. It is one of 10 priority projects in Bicol for 2008-2010 along with the construction of the new Legazpi airport. P500M has reportedly been released for the project. The rationale of the project is to decongest the main road running from Naga to Legazpi. A shortening of the travel time between the two cities is expected.

The planned diversion road is 61.90 kilometers long. Only 14 kilometers will be new road as it just intends to use old roads that already exist. Thus, 32.22 kilometers of existing gravel road will be paved and 15.68 kilometers of the existing Maharlika highway will be improved. An old bridge will also be repaired and a new 40-meter bridge will be built. The total project cost is estimated to be P2.25 billion.

This bypass road will connect the old roads connecting Legazpi to Naga (see my previous article, "The Old Roads of the Naga-Legazpi Corridor and Dialectal Variations Along Its Way", 11/18/08). From the town of Oas it will probably use the old Mayao road that connects the town to Libon, Albay.

From Libon, it will use the gravel road that connects it to the upland barrios of Nabua. This is the Libon-Buga-Tandaay road. This road crosses the Nabua-Balatan road in the big barrio of Tandaay, Nabua. The road runs through the southern shores of Lake Bato.

From Tandaay,Nabua a gravel road runs to Bula, Camarines Sur, running south of the plains irrigated by the Bicol River. This road skirts the southern side of Lake Baao. This is the old Malawag road.

It seems the new road construction mentioned will be used to connect Bula to San Fernando, Camarines Sur. It is probable that the paved road running west of Bula to the barrio of Panoypoyan will used. If not, some other farm-to-market (feeder) roads might be used like the road to Bagoladio. It seems the new bridge will be used in this stretch since the Bicol River will have to be forded here, a connection that hencetoforth does not yet exist. Before reaching San Fernando, the road will pass through portions of Minalabac, if not the town proper. However, Milaor will be bypassed.

This diversion road for the most part will pass through the foot of the long mountain chain on the southern side of Bicol which is always visible from the road when one is traversing the Sipocot to Ligao stretch of the Maharlika highway.

Concerns have been raised about the possible effects on Naga and the towns that will be bypassed by the new highway. There's fear that the economic downturn suffered by Daet and the Camarines Norte towns when the Quirino Andaya highway was opened will be replicated here.

But to sustain progress sometimes new infrastructure must really be built. There is no question that the Naga-Legazpi road is already a little bit crowded and this won't get better anymore. Anyway the first users of this highway will probably be the cars, trucks and buses that just passes by the area en route to Sorsogon and Eastern Visayas.

Whatever, it is imperative that a comprehensive study be made of the possible impacts of the new highway should be. This is needed to warn the sectors that will be affected and also anticipate future problems.

It is now being bandied as the "GMA Highway". The information is from NEDA (National Economic Development Authority) Region V office so it must be official now.

[wheel of steel]

Originally Posted by [dx]

The San Fernando, Camarines Sur-Oas, Albay Diversion Road
Source: UP Ibalon Bicol

The construction of a San Fernando, Camarines Sur to Oas, Albay bypass (diversion) road has recently been approved. It is one of 10 priority projects in Bicol for 2008-2010 along with the construction of the new Legazpi airport. P500M has reportedly been released for the project. The rationale of the project is to decongest the main road running from Naga to Legazpi. A shortening of the travel time between the two cities is expected.

The planned diversion road is 61.90 kilometers long. Only 14 kilometers will be new road as it just intends to use old roads that already exist. Thus, 32.22 kilometers of existing gravel road will be paved and 15.68 kilometers of the existing Maharlika highway will be improved. An old bridge will also be repaired and a new 40-meter bridge will be built. The total project cost is estimated to be P2.25 billion.

This bypass road will connect the old roads connecting Legazpi to Naga (see my previous article, "The Old Roads of the Naga-Legazpi Corridor and Dialectal Variations Along Its Way", 11/18/08). From the town of Oas it will probably use the old Mayao road that connects the town to Libon, Albay.

From Libon, it will use the gravel road that connects it to the upland barrios of Nabua. This is the Libon-Buga-Tandaay road. This road crosses the Nabua-Balatan road in the big barrio of Tandaay, Nabua. The road runs through the southern shores of Lake Bato.

From Tandaay,Nabua a gravel road runs to Bula, Camarines Sur, running south of the plains irrigated by the Bicol River. This road skirts the southern side of Lake Baao. This is the old Malawag road.

It seems the new road construction mentioned will be used to connect Bula to San Fernando, Camarines Sur. It is probable that the paved road running west of Bula to the barrio of Panoypoyan will used. If not, some other farm-to-market (feeder) roads might be used like the road to Bagoladio. It seems the new bridge will be used in this stretch since the Bicol River will have to be forded here, a connection that hencetoforth does not yet exist. Before reaching San Fernando, the road will pass through portions of Minalabac, if not the town proper. However, Milaor will be bypassed.

This diversion road for the most part will pass through the foot of the long mountain chain on the southern side of Bicol which is always visible from the road when one is traversing the Sipocot to Ligao stretch of the Maharlika highway.

Concerns have been raised about the possible effects on Naga and the towns that will be bypassed by the new highway. There's fear that the economic downturn suffered by Daet and the Camarines Norte towns when the Quirino Andaya highway was opened will be replicated here.

But to sustain progress sometimes new infrastructure must really be built. There is no question that the Naga-Legazpi road is already a little bit crowded and this won't get better anymore. Anyway the first users of this highway will probably be the cars, trucks and buses that just passes by the area en route to Sorsogon and Eastern Visayas.

Whatever, it is imperative that a comprehensive study be made of the possible impacts of the new highway should be. This is needed to warn the sectors that will be affected and also anticipate future problems.

It is now being bandied as the "GMA Highway". The information is from NEDA (National Economic Development Authority) Region V office so it must be official now.

I'll try to scan the plan of DPWH for the Libon to Oas section. The road bed is almost 10 meters in with some are yet to be excavated. The Ligao Pioduran crossing of GMA highway is already in fullblast (road opening only).

[dassler]

sa palagay ko walang quality control ang concrete rehabilitation ng road na ito. kung mayroon mang QA/QC in-charge dito, siguro natutulog o kaya busog na busog kaya hindi makatayo para tingnan ang quality ng concrete mixture at road preparation. sa ngayon, from the junction at camarines norte going to bicol ginagawa ang concrete road. kitang kita na hindi matigas ang mixture. may stretches na bagong commission biyak na agad. sa palagay ko di rin magtatagal ang bagong concrete katulad ng mga naunang ginawa. bagong-bago sira agad. naka panghinayang talaga. dahil dito dumadaan ang lahat ng provicial buses/trucks going to bicol, visayas and mindanao, the quality of this road should be at par with NLEX or SLEX. what do you think guys? wake up DPWH officials.

[olineil]

Originally Posted by dassler

sa palagay ko walang quality control ang concrete rehabilitation ng road na ito. kung mayroon mang QA/QC in-charge dito, siguro natutulog o kaya busog na busog kaya hindi makatayo para tingnan ang quality ng concrete mixture at road preparation. sa ngayon, from the junction at camarines norte going to bicol ginagawa ang concrete road. kitang kita na hindi matigas ang mixture. may stretches na bagong commission biyak na agad. sa palagay ko di rin magtatagal ang bagong concrete katulad ng mga naunang ginawa. bagong-bago sira agad. naka panghinayang talaga. dahil dito dumadaan ang lahat ng provicial buses/trucks going to bicol, visayas and mindanao, the quality of this road should be at par with NLEX or SLEX. what do you think guys? wake up DPWH officials.

Yeah wake-up DPWH, specifically DPWH Cam Sur & Norte. Albay has the best road network in bicol well maintained and properly done. Sorsogon has fairly well maintained roads. Can't vouch for Catanduanes and Masbate haven't been there.

[Monsi]

Masbate highway...notice the sign showing the estimated distances to other towns from Masbate City...

[[dx]]

DPWH projects to generate jobs in Bicol, says exec
By Danny O. Calleja

LEGAZPI CITY, Feb. 14 (PNA) - The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) regional office in Bicol here will see to it that all public works projects in the region make use of local labor in its implementations, a top executive of the agency said Wednesday. "We are requiring private contractors awarded with government projects under the implementation of the DPWH regional office to hire the local workforce or laborers in localities where the projects are to be put up," Eduardo Talastas, regional chief of the planning DPWH planning division, said.

This scheme, Talastas said, is in accordance with the intention of the national government of providing employment to the local workforce. He said that the government has been focusing on public infrastructure and apart from its economic impacts in terms development, among its intentions is to open job opportunities particularly in the countryside.

It is also a measure in cushioning the impact of the global economic downturn that has been displacing thousands of workers both in the domestic and overseas settings, Talastas said. The DPWH-Bicol has been allocated some P3 billion for various infrastructure projects in the P3.1 trillion General Appropriations Act of 2009 that has already passed the Bicameral Committee of the Congress, Talastas said.

This DPWH-Bicol allocation is a good-enough money to sustain the infrastructure development of the region and provide employment to thousands of skilled and unskilled local laborers, he said. Local contractors are amenable to this requirement that would make at least 15 percent of the cost of a particular project go to labor in forms of salaries and wages, Talastas said.

Among the big projects expected to be implemented under the 2009 budget is the road component of the Bicol International Airport in barangay Alobo, Daraga, Albay that has been given an initial appropriation of P100 million. This road which will open the access between the proposed airport terminal and the national highway is a two-kilometer span complete with all the components of a first class highway, he said.

Seven bridge projects under the National Bridge Program of Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo he said, are also to be implemented this year in some areas of Bicol and substantial amounts have been appropriated so that it offer job openings to the local labor. Among them is the P800,000 "twin sky bridge" over the Bicol River that would connect the municipality of Libmanan with the commercial hub of Naga City and shorten by 45 minutes travel time between the two points.

This project is being pushed by presidential son and Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. Dato Arroyo as part of his economic development agenda for the province. Other priority projects under the DPWH regional office to be implemented this year are flood control structures, river control and farm-to-market roads, Talastas added.(PNA)

[sleeepy]

Mga ser! may updates o pictures po kayo ng andaya highway? yung quirino highway? tindi kasi ng daan dun huling uwi namen, pang off-roader lang. haha. Sana ayos na siya tulad ng slex