Recently, both the provincial chief executive and the Sangguniang Panlalawigan posted on social media the response of the DPWH regarding the conduct of a feasibility study for a bridge or undersea tunnel that would connect the Happy Island to the Bicol mainland.
The first letter was Secretary Vince Dizon’s reply to Governor Patrick Alain T. Azanza’s request for a copy of the FS of the Catanduanes-Camarines Sur Friendship Bridge.
The DPWH chief informed that the project is currently proposed for reevaluation and further assessment of its overall impact and other technical options.
He said the reevaluation is included in the National Expenditure Program (NEP) for FY 2026, with a proposed funding allocation of P86.8 million to cover the conduct of an updated socio-economic survey, traffic survey, topographic survey, geotechnical investigation, hydrographic survey, and seabed/coastline bathymetric surveys.
Dizon stated that based on the results of the initial evaluation, the project did not meet the required economic hurdle rate of ten percent (10%) and was found to be technically not feasible.
With the bridge requiring an investment of P522.6 billion, it had an Economic Internal Rate of Return (EIRR) of negative 7.8 percent.
The DPWH secretary’s response to the SP resolution for the conduct of an FS for the construction of an undersea tunnel or bridge clarified that proposal would be considered as a “potential alternative” to the proposed reevaluation of the friendship bridge.
“The forthcoming study will further address the project’s overall impact and determine viable technical options considering, among others, available construction methodologies, bridge alignment and local capacity,” Dizon stressed.
With an undersea or deep sea tunnel even costlier to build than a bridge, both projects could likely take decades to be realized.
Considering economic impact and vehicular traffic, the Friendship bridge pales in comparison to the proposed undersea tunnel or bridge that would connect Matnog, Sorsogon to Allen, Samar.
In fact, last June 2025, then DPWH Sec. Manuel Bonoan sent then House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez the agency’s position paper on the project, on which it interposed no objection.
While the infra agency recognized the transformative potential of the project in enhancing regional growth, improving inter-island connectivity, and promoting national integration, it hastened to emphasize that the physical and technical challenges of traversing the San Bernardino Strait require a level of analysis far beyond standard infrastructure projects.
Bonoan said both options of a long-span bridge or an undersea tunnel require significant geotechnical, hydrological, and structural risks, including seismic fault crossings, deep marine foundation requirements, aerodynamic stability, long-term corrosion, and disaster-proof design.
“These factors necessitate the use of cutting-edge modeling tools, state-of-the-art technologies, and potentially the engagement of international experts, as current local consulting capabilities may not be sufficient to deliver such technically demanding assessments,” he pointed out.
While a previous study has estimated the cost of the longer and much wider, 24-kilometer Matnog-Allen bridge at P284 billion, the fact that the Catanduanes-Camarines Sur span is about two-thirds shorter does not discard the need for a similar rigorous, highly technical study and the project’s achieving an EIRR of at least 10%
Islanders whose hopes have been raised by sure funding for a feasibility study of both bridge and undersea tunnel proposals should temper their expectations for a smoother crossing of Maqueda channel.
There will be less chance of a nightmare if they dream of better, more modern roll-on, roll-off ferries, especially if a moneyed competitor takes on the two companies serving the two routes to and from the mainland.