NEDA Board approves TPLEX extension, purchase of 5 PCG vessels, PBBM bridges project during its 11th meeting — NEDA Secretary Balisacan – Presidential Communications Office

The National Economic and Development Authority Board or NEDA Board, chaired by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., approved on Thursday three high-impact projects during its eleventh meeting, involving the construction of major infrastructure projects and capability improvement for the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).

“The Marcos administration remains steadfast in its dedication to enhancing connectivity, ramping up employment-creating investments, and significantly improving living standards for every Filipino by ensuring the efficient implementation of these high-impact projects,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said in a press briefing in Malacañang.

“We will continue with our commitment to pursue important initiatives to ensure social and economic transformation towards a matatag, maginhawa, at panatag na buhay para sa lahat.”

Balisacan said among those approved by the NEDA Board was the Php28.2 billion Pang-Agraryong Tulay Para sa Bagong Bayanihan ng mga Magsasaka or PBBM Bridges Project of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).

The project is aimed at constructing 350 modular steel bridges with an estimated total length of 10,500 linear meters to enhance access and connectivity for agrarian reform communities.

The approved project also aims to increase the productivity and income of at least 350,000 households by easing the mobility and access to and from the agrarian reform communities to generate more employment and to provide communities with better social services and market access.

The NEDA Board also gave its nod for the Php29.3-billion Phase 3 of the Maritime Safety Capability Improvement Project for the Philippine Coast Guard, which will involve the design, construction, and delivery of five units of multi-role response vessels or MRRVs, each with a length of 97 meters.

With a five-year integrated logistics support, it is seen further improve the PCG’s capability to respond to threats and incidents within the country’s maritime jurisdiction, particularly by enabling it to secure important sea lines of communication in the West Philippine Sea, Sulu-Celebes Seas, and the Philippine Sea.

To be financed through Japan’s Official