(UPDATE) THE Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) jointly reviewed over the weekend the updates on the proposed Second San Juanico Bridge Construction Project (SSJBCP).
DPWH mission head Undersecretary Emil Sadain said Sunday that together with his JICA counterpart, the two panels reviewed the updates on the draft final feasibility study, technical and financial requirements, and environmental and social safeguards of the bridge project.
Sadain said the feasibility study was started in October 2023, and was being finalized this month.
The study will then be submitted to the Department of Economy, Planning and Development (DEPDev) ahead of the JICA Appraisal Mission and Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) approval on October 2025.
The loan for the project was approved by JICA and the Department of Finance (DOF). The target completion date is February 2026, followed by 15 months of detailed engineering design and 30 months of construction, aiming for completion by December 2030,”
The new bridge will link Barangay 105 (San Isidro/Suhi), Tacloban City, and Barangay San Juan, Santa Rita, in Samar.
Loan signing between JICA and the Department of Finance (DOF) is targeted for February 2026, followed by 15 months of detailed engineering design and 30 months of construction, aiming for completion by December 2030.
Built at a cost of P20.282 billion, with P81.226 million alone for the right-of-way, the new bridge is expected to serve over 15,000 vehicles per day, helping decongest the existing San Juanico Bridge and cope with growing daily traffic between Samar and Leyte.
The original San Juanico Bridge was built in 1969 and inaugurated in 1973 during the administration of former President Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr.
The new bridge will be 2.6-kilometer long and run parallel to the old span. Its estimated cost is P9.17 billion.
Sadain said upgrading the San Juanico Bridge will help boost the economies of Samar, Leyte and even Mindanao, since it would complement future road improvement projects in Eastern Visayas Region, like the 233-kilometer Samar section of the proposed Samar and Agusan Daang Maharlika Road Improvement Project from Allen, Northern Samar to Calbayog, and the 15-kilometer Samar Pacific Coastal Road Phase II including the construction of Laoang II Bridge and Calomotan Bridge under the Economic Development Cooperation Fund of the Government of Korea.