The Duterte administration plans to link the country’s three major islands—Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao with an ambitious 8-bridge project. This announcement was made by the Department of Finance and says that the project aims to “further stimulate growth and create jobs outside Metro Manila.”

As part of the government’s “Build, Build, Build” program, the 8 bridges are:

• Luzon – Samar: 18.2 kilometers
• Leyte – Mindanao: 20 kilometers (underwater or overhead)
• Panay – Guimaras: 5.7 kilometers
• Guimaras – Negros: 12.3 kilometers
• Bohol – Lapinig Island: 1 kilometer
• Lapinig – Leyte: 18 kilometers
• Cebu – Negros: 5.5 kilometers
• Bohol – Cebu: 24.5 kilometers

Furthermore, complimenting these bridge projects is the construction of road networks.

Department of Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the proposed bridge projects are set to be submitted to the Investment Coordination Committee (ICC) for approval. No timeline was given, however, Dominguez did say that the aim of the project is to reduce the poverty rate to just 14 percent in 2022 compared to 21.6 percent at the end of 2017.

Costing P 269.1 billion or P 2.55 billion per kilometer (their math holds up because projects such as the NAIAX cost P 1.21 billion per kilometer), the DOF will support the project via the comprehensive tax reform package (TRAIN), official development assistance (ODA) from the Philippines’ allies in the region; and financing support from multilateral institutions such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank (WB) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).