The P50-billion 70-km Metro Cebu Expressway is expected to ease traffic in cities like Cebu and Mandaue.
Billions worth of infrastructure projects under the “build, build, build” thrust of the government is a welcome development in Cebu since these are expected to decongest Metro Cebu particularly, cities like Cebu and Mandaue.
Roy Soledad, head of the Cebu Investment Promotions Office (CIPO), said that if all the activities are centralized in the metropolitan, real estate developers will grab the opportunity to offer more options that buyers in the area or within its vicinity can avail.
“But if Cebu City is unclogged and the businesses, particularly IT-BPM (Information Technology-Business Process Management) in nature, are brought to the countryside, these structures are no longer necessary for locals,” Soledad said in an interview.
This included the the construction of the P50-billion 74-kilometer Metro Cebu Expressway, an integrated seamless transport system that will decongest major thoroughfares in Cebu, which the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is set to undertake next year.
This project, which is among P541.58-billion government projects approved by National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board’s Investment Coordination Committee (ICC), is expected to reduce travel time from Naga City in the south to Danao City in the north from three hours to just one hour and 25 minutes.
Condos as examples
Soledad cited condominium units in the city as an example of the benefit of spreading the development to the countryside.
He said that most condominium units in the city are not owned by locals, but by foreigners or overseas Filipino workers that want to invest.
“Since most of the jobs are here in the city, even those from the rural areas have no choice but to buy these properties because they have nowhere else to stay,” he said.
However, Soledad said this is not a good sign because this means development is only saturated in one area.
He said the provincial government wants development to spread across the country, this being the second item in the agenda of Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III.
Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) president Glenn Soco said there are more things set to happen for Cebu in the coming years as far as infrastructure development is concerned.
“It’s only been one year since President (Rodrigo) Duterte sat down, but we have these many projects already,” he said.
Soco, who heads the infrastructure committee of the Regional Development Council in Central Visayas (RDC-7), said President Duterte has a very solid “build, build, build” program which Cebu can greatly benefit from.
Aside from the Metro Cebu Expressway, there are also proposals to build bypass roads along the Mandaue-Consolacion-Liloan and Talisay-Minglanilla-Naga corridors.
The RDC-7 has proposed P83 billion worth of projects to be undertaken by the DPWH in Cebu for 2018.
Real estate market study
These projects of the government’s “build, build, build” thrust are mostly centered on efficient transport systems to address the traffic problems and improve the ease of doing business and eventually propel the country’s economy to greater heights.
A development that a real estate consulting firm has taken noted in its real estate marketing insight report of the 2nd quarter of 2017.
Rail development
According to the Pinnacle Real Estate Consulting Services Inc., the country’s economy is seen to benefit from the government’s “build, build, build” thrust as majority of projects under this initiative are mostly for rail development.
“There is a theory that no country has industrialized without an efficient railroad system. It appears that these projects will sustain the steady upward flight of the economy,” Pinnacle said.
In the case of President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration, Pinnacle said there is currently a focus on the economy and infrastructure spending, even amid the government’s continued war on illegal drugs as well as the declaration of martial law over Mindanao.
Pinnacle said these infrastructure projects are spread all over the country and were seen to boost countryside development.
It will also make real estate the “next big thing” in the Philippines as the government undertakes a massive infrastructure program until 2022, creating thousands of jobs and spurring economic activity.