Salceda lauds tollway construction in Quezon, highlighting its potential to reduce transportation costs for goods bound for the Bicol region.
House Ways and Means Chair Joey Sarte Salceda (Albay, 2nd District) praised the Toll Regulatory Board’s announcement that it is set to approve the final engineering design for the first phase of the South Luzon Expressway Toll Road 5 (TR5), marking the start of construction.
According to the Toll Regulatory Board, the approved design will cover the initial segment from Lucena to Gumaca, Quezon.
Salceda emphasized that the TR4 construction, particularly the Lucena-Gumaca segment, will provide significant relief to commuters and truckers while lowering logistics costs for businesses transporting goods to Bicol.
“The lack of strong land transport links to Calabarzon effectively makes Bicol an island, which makes us vulnerable to stress on food and supply of other essential goods during emergencies. It also makes our supply chains with Manila very expensive to maintain,” said Salceda.
The economist-lawmaker added that for Albay, the most critical connection will be to the Bicol Ecozone, which has already received approval from the PEZA Board and is set for proclamation this year.
“Once you have SLEX and the Bicol Ecozone, plus DA’s planned agricultural super port there, food costs will go down for much of Albay, and we will have as many as 8,000 new manufacturing jobs. So, we will definitely pursue arterials from SLEX to Libon,” Salceda stated.
He also assured that he will push for the Naga-Legazpi segment as an extension of the Lucena-Gumaca segment.
“The Naga-Legazpi portion has a catchment area of around 2.2 million people, including the two largest cities in South Luzon. I think RSA can pursue and operate that segment in advance, so that we don’t have to wait for completion of the emptier parts between Gumaca and Sipocot,” he added.
Salceda stressed that the toll road segment will improve access to Bicol International Airport in Camarines Sur, which is crucial for the airport’s sustainability and Naga’s economic growth.
“I will be asking Secretary Vince Dizon to explore this option, that we pursue this as soon as possible. It’s good for both cities, and I think it will move the needle positively for SLEX revenues as well,” Salceda said.