CEBU’s most-awaited bridge linking Cebu City to the town of Cordova on Mactan Island is now connected.
A main bridge deck ceremony was held on Friday, Oct. 29, 2021 led by Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan, Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, Acting Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama, Cordova Mayor Therese Sitoy-Cho, and Spanish Ambassador Jorge Moragas Sanchez.
Called the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX), the P30-billion project is being implemented by the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway Corporation (CCLEC) with the local governments of Cebu City and Cordova.
It is the longest and tallest bridge in the Philippines, spanning 8.9 kilometers and is set to be opened in the first quarter of 2022.
“It is a conviction investment on the part of our group to say that the Filipino can do it. We now stand here at this very iconic monument, a product of many hearts, minds and hands of Cebuanos. So it is the pride of Cebu,” Pangilinan said in his speech.
The third bridge is the single largest investment made by a company in Cebu and the Visayas.
The construction progress of the CCLEX is now at 86 percent.
For her part, Garcia said the third bridge realized so many dreams by linking Cebu City and Cordova.
“Today, 500 years later, the two islands are on both ends of this world-class, ultra-modern, Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway or CCLEX, a crowning achievement in technology, design and aesthetic. Truly something every Cebuano would be proud of,” Garcia said.
In his speech, Rama said the toll bridge will benefit the whole country.
“(This is) not just for Cebu City, not just for Cordova but this will be intended for the whole country,” he said.
Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Felix Taguiam said the bridge will serve as a symbolic achievement of finally linking the quaint town of Cordova, Mactan, where an international airport, industrial zones, and beach resorts are located, to the highly urbanized Cebu City in the mainland via the South Road Properties.
Meanwhile, Sitoy-Cho said she believed the milestone was graced by her father, the late
Presidential Legislative Liaison Office Secretary Adelino Sitoy.
The older Sitoy who was also a former mayor of Cordova succumbed to Covid-19 months earlier in April 2021.
“We would’ve seen that boyish yet proud smile on his face. To all those people who did not believe in his vision from the start, he would have said, ‘Hey, we did it without your help’,” Sitoy-Cho said.
