PH to get 350-M euro funding from France for rural bridges
The Philippines and France are set to sign a €350-million (P23.7-billion) loan agreement to finance the construction of modular bridges in the next few years, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).
Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said the loan agreement, which may be signed in April or May, covers the development of 300 modular steel panel bridges across the archipelago.
De Mesa, also the DA’s spokesperson, explained that the 300 modular steel panel bridges would be built in 52 provinces across 15 regions, which would complement farm-to-market road (FMR) projects, now under the DA’s oversight.
About 50 percent of modular bridge sites in the pipeline are located in Mindanao, 30 percent in Luzon and 20 percent in the Visayas.
The development will commence in June or July and will be completed in three to four years.
The DA official said they were in the procurement stage and had already secured approval of the Investment Coordination Committee to undertake the project.
“We are building a lot of FMRs in the country … Many roads have been constructed without bridges, so these cannot be used 100 percent efficiently,” he told reporters in Filipino.
More funds in the pipeline
De Mesa also said the government was exploring bilateral agreements with Austria and the United Kingdom to construct more modular bridges, although the French government has expressed its willingness to provide additional funding.
The DA is expecting to sign a bilateral pact with Austria by 2027 at the earliest, with De Mesa saying that discussions are in the initial conceptual phase.
The agency is undertaking the Farm-to-Market Bridges Development Program aimed at improving rural infrastructure and agricultural logistics.
The bridge sites will rise in areas with high agricultural potential but limited road access to enhance connectivity along FMRs and link farming communities to economic centers.
The official development assistance from the French government will shoulder the cost of building 300 modular steel panel bridges out of the 1,428 proposed bridge sites proposed by local government units.
It involves 300 FMR bridges—four standard single-lane and 296 extra-wide single-lane—spanning 11,400.9 linear meters.
