The Department of Public Works and Highway has presented a plan to construct a world-class super bridge that will link Mindoro Island to the Province of Batangas.
The gigantic bridge project will maximize the current position of Mindoro Island as “Luzon’s Gateway to the South” to the Island Provinces of Visayas and Mindanao Region through opening roads to faster and efficient transport of goods and people along the existing Nautical Highway.
Likewise, it will help the increasing demand for expansion and optimization of basic industries or utilities like water, power, oil, and telecommunication companies and will also boost agriculture and ecotourism as well.
It was proposed by Congressman Reynaldo V. Umali, under a House Bill # 2767 dated 9 August 2017, relative to the implementation under PPP mode for the Construction, Operation, and Maintenance of the Mindoro-Batangas Nautical Bridge Highway connecting Mindoro Island to Batangas City.
According to Oriental Mindoro Governor Alfonso Umali Jr. the brother of Congressman Reynaldo V. Umali, San Miguel Corporation offered to construct the said super bridge that has a total length of 15 km and will cover the 6.5 kilometers from Barangay Ilijan in Batangas City to Verde Island and 8.5 kilometers that will continue from Verde Island to Barangay Sinandigan in Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro, over a 10m – 300m water depth.
The Batangas-Mindoro bridge is touted to be the first floating bridge in South East Asia with high ship passage on its pontoons. The bridge will have pedestrian and bicycle lanes. The bridge will be designed to withstand typhoons with winds up to 350 km/h (220 mph). – JCE / DPWH
The Batangas to Mindoro Super Bridge. Video News footage courtesy of “Eagle News”
