Quezon-Bicol expressway no longer entirely a PPP project —DPWH

The proposed 200-kilometer Quezon-Bicol Expressway (QBEx) will be pursued through a combination of different modes of financing instead of the original plan to implement the project entirely under public-private partnership (PPP) scheme.

"Hindi lahat ng segment will be PPP because some would not be attractive to the private sector in terms of traffic," DPWH Undersecretary for Planning and PPP Maria Catalina Cabral told reporters on the sidelines of the Innovation in Infrastructure Congress in Parañaque City on Friday.

This was among the initial information from the ongoing feasibility study for the project, targeted to be completed by October or November this year, according to Cabral.

The DPWH official said the QBEx will be constructed by segments and each segments will be financed through different modes of funding.

"The feasibility study will determine which segments will go through ODA (official development assistance), PPP, or for local funding," Cabral said.

Asked how much will be the total cost of the project, the DPWH official said this has yet to be determined by the ongoing feasibility study.

She also said that the DPWH is still yet to determine by how many segments the QBEx project will be implemented.

"Implementing it by segments is more feasible kasi it's a long stretch," Cabral said.

The QBEx is planned to start at Pagbilao, Quezon and will end at existing Maharlika Highway in San Fernando, Camarines Sur and will be an alternative option of travel from Quezon and the Bicol provinces.

The project is seen to provide a faster alternative route for motorists going to the Bicol region as the Maharlika highway being traversed by motorists go through the mountainside and other fragmentary roads. —NB, GMA News