Marcos hopes for a 5-minute travel between Caloocan, Manila

With the construction of a connector, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. expressed hope that the travel time between the cities of Caloocan and Manila could be lessened to five minutes.

This as Marcos witnessed the inauguration of the NLEX Connector Caloocan-España Section on Monday.

“This road project will form an integral part of the Luzon’s spine expressway network which in turn is a component of the Philippine high standard highway network. Once completed this connector shall provide another alternate route that will reduce travel time for our motorists,” Marcos said in his speech.

“Nagtitinginan kami kanina noong sinabi Manila-Caloocan will be five minutes. Sa buong buhay natin never pa natin nakita ‘yung five minutes na galing Caloocan hanggang Maynila… baka ‘yung ating pangarap ay matupad na,” he added.

(We looked at each other when it was mentioned that the travel time between Manila and Caloocan will be five minutes. In our entire life, we haven’t experienced that. Maybe our dream will already come true.)

The President said the connector would also contribute to the easing of the movement of cargo and goods from North to South and vice versa.

“It will provide great relief to the logistics sector since there will be an alternative route for trackers who wish to avoid the congestion in the main roads within the metropolis,” Marcos said.

According to Marcos, “the positive effects of this project will speed up mobility and transactions, and will spur  economic productivity of the country.”

“High-impact infrastructure improvements, visible and directly felt by our people, will be credible proof that their government is indeed effectively and tirelessly working for them and applying what we have come to call the whole-of-government, whole-of-nation approach,” Marcos said.

Marcos promised that under his administration’s Build Better More program, the government will “continue to push for the interconnectivity of major roads and expressways as well as build even more roads and bridges in strategic places within the archipelago.”

“So we will not stop here, we will continue to develop a highly interconnected road network that will facilitate our country’s rapid, inclusive and sustained economic growth,” Marcos said.

The President urged the Department of Transportation to continue improving the country’s road infrastructure and to finish these projects within the expected time frame.

“Avoid unnecessary delays and finish the project as scheduled so that the Filipino people will be able to reap the benefits as soon as possible,” said Marcos.

The Presidential Communications Office said the road project, with a total cost of P23.3 billion including right-of-way acquisition costs, would form an integral part of the Luzon Spine Expressway Network, which will be a component of the Philippine High Standard Highway Network.

Once completed, the eight-kilometer connector project shall provide another alternate route that will reduce travel time for motorists.  — RSJ, GMA Integrated News