The ‘backbone of overland trade’: QUBEX project up for Senate OK

THE House of Representatives has recently endorsed for the Senate approval the proposed Quezon-bicol Expressway (QUBEX), which is envisioned to serve as the “backbone of overland trade” in Bicol.

This after the lower chamber last Tuesday approved on third and final reading the House Bill 9988, which would mandate the construction of the expressway.

The project will start in Pagbilao, Quezon, and will end at the existing Maharlika Highway in San Fernando, Camarines Sur. The project will have an indicative length of approximately 220 kilometers and will bean alternative option of travel from quezon and the Bicol provinces. The feasibility study of the road project is already complete.

House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Joey Sarte Salceda said theconstruction of the qubex will reduce the travel time to 5 to 6 hours from Manila to Bicol.

“The lack of backbone transport infrastructure has its impacts on the lives of our people, especially during this pandemic. Bicol has suffered some of the highest inflation levels in the country during the current Covid-19 crisis. As of July 2021, the inflation rate for Bicol was 6.5 percent, 2.5 percent higher than the July national average,” said Salceda, one of the principal authors of the bill.

“Transportation is one of the key drivers[ of inflation ]. Our region saw transport inflation reach an eye-pop ping 13 percent in July. Food also continues to be expensive and is higher than the regional inflation at 6.6 percent. This is a direct result of the fact that it is expensive to transport to the Bicol region, the expense coming mostly from travel time,” he added.

Currently, the lawmaker said overland travel to Bicol could take as much as 13 hours, with almost certain need for stopovers that make land transport expensive.

Salceda added that travel to Albay currently takes “between 10 and 15 hours, depending in the traffic situation.”

“With QUBEX, we expect to reduce travel time to just 5 hours, which would make Bicol around as close to Manila as Baguio or Ilocos are,” he added.

“The subsequent saving in time and fuel would help lower food, transport, and logistics costs in Bicol, and would make us competitive for business,” Salceda added.

Earlier, the Department of Public Works and Highways suggested that construction could start as early as 2020, but the contagion may have delayed the implementation of the project.

Salceda also suggested that the QUBEX should form part of an “integrated transport and economic development strategy” for the Bicol region.

“We are the transshipment point for the Southeastern portion of the country, from Region 8 down to Eastern Mindanao. So, we need a comprehensive transport strategy for Bicol. If you can bi sect Bicol with an expressway,restore and improve the train lines, begin operating the international airport in Dar a ga, and also connect both the pacific and the country’s inland ports in Bicol, you create plenty of opportunities to save on transport costs,” Salceda said.