Toll-free access for Cordova folk pushed
Cebu 6th District provincial board member Arleigh Sitoy wants motorists from Cordova town to be spared from the P55 toll fee for the proposed third Mactan-Cebu bridge.
In order to become the “true beneficiaries” of the third access, PB Member Arleigh Sitoy said people from the town should be exempted from the “burden” of paying the fee.
Yesterday, Sitoy sponsored a resolution requesting the project proponent, Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC), to include the possibility of exempting Cordova residents from the toll fee in the project’s feasibility study.
It was approved on mass motion during yesterday’s regular session.
The resolution also includes a suggestion for development planners to consider building a fourth bridge in the nearby vicinity which will be toll-free.
“We are supposed to be the beneficiaries of the bridge. How can we be the beneficiaries if we are given a burden? Burden in the sense that we have to pay the toll fee,” said Sitoy, the son of Cordova Mayor Adelino Sitoy.
The third bridge which is targeted for completion in 2018 will start at the portion of Shell Island in barangay Pilipog, Cordova and will end at the viaduct of the South Road Properties (SRP).
The project is a joint venture between the municipality of Cordova, Cebu City and MPTC – a subsidiary of the Metro Pacific Investments Corp. led by Manuel Pangilinan through a public-private partnership (PPP) scheme.
The P16.5-billion project will be funded by MPTC.
Recently, the development firm proposed a toll fee of at least P55 for cars, passenger jeepneys and sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and a bigger amount for light trucks, buses and multi-axle or heavy trucks.
The amount was based on a willingness-to-pay survey conducted by MPTC consultancy firm Parsons Brinckerhoff. But this has yet to be approved by the Toll Regulatory Board. He said he has yet to talk to representatives from MPTC or the Cebu City government about the proposal although he also brought up the idea to Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale and she supports it.
“That is why we made the resolution. We will let them know of our request through this,” he said.
With this, 95 percent of revenue will go to the private developer while the remaining five percent will be divided between Cebu City and Cordova town.
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