CEBU CITY — The provincial government here announced that it now has the full authority to implement the Metro Cebu Expressway (MCE) project through a public-private partnership scheme.

This comes after the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has delisted the MCE project from its Priority Infrastructure Flagship Programs/Public Investment Program and is formally turning it over to the provincial government.

In a letter sent to Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, National Economic and Development Authority chief Arsenio Balisacan and Public-Private Partnership Center executive director Ma. Cynthia Hernandez, DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan said that the agency is “fully supporting Cebu province in its bid to lead the completion of the MCE project through available means, such as a Capitol-led public-private partnership.”

For her part, Garcia stressed that the development will grant a way for the Provincial Economic Enterprise Council to receive proposals from the private sector who are interested in the P94-billion infrastructure project construction.

DPWH Public-Private Partnership Service Office’s Atty. Arjay Peralta, on the other hand, said that the agency would still assist the province, saying that there is no need for the provincial government to concur with the agency before it begins the project.

“The participation of the local government is very important in the sense that on their own, they can ask for investors or they can look for any proponents who want to implement this project,” Peralta said.