THE word will come from Public Works and Highways Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. as to what date the new Dawel-Pantal-Lucao Road, including its bridge component, in Dagupan City, will be inaugurated and opened.

This was disclosed by Rep. Jose de Venecia Jr. congressman of the fourth district of Pangasinan, who believes the project could be inaugurated and opened very soon being now 99.9 percent complete.

De Venecia, whose Priority Development Assistance Fund bankrolled the construction of the road component, was informed that contractors are now only doing the final touches of construction before turning over the project to DPWH.

He said that protocol dictates that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo should inaugurate the project which, he added, is one of the most beautiful highways built in the Philippines.

Asked if he will be present when President Arroyo inaugurates the project, the former House Speaker said, “Maybe I will be there, if invited.”

The whole project costs P1.3 billion with the bridge component alone costing P970 million, financed from a soft loan obtained by the Philippine government form the Japan Bank for International Cooperation.

The bridge spans the Pantal River, the biggest and longest river in Dagupan City.

“I am not only the proponent of the project. I was the one who asked the Japanese government to finance the construction of the bridge.” de Venecia said.

The Japanese government, through the Toyo Construction of Japan, built the bridge with integrity, de Venecia said.

He added that he accumulated his pork barrels for several years to finance the construction of the road component built over swamps and rivers in the outskirts of Dagupan City.

Although difficult to construct, the project was finished ahead of schedule, de Venecia stressed.