CEBU CITY — Cebu Governor Pamela Baricuatro on Friday expressed her full support for the completion of the long-delayed Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (CBRT) project, amid mounting pressure from the World Bank for the Philippines to speed up implementation or risk losing funding.

“I can understand where the World Bank is coming from. I believe more than 10 years na ni (since funding was approved). In short, we’re stretching their patience,” Baricuatro said, reacting to the World Bank’s latest Implementation Status and Results Report, which downgraded the CBRT’s progress to “unsatisfactory” and classified its risk rating as “high.”

Although the CBRT is a national government project in partnership with the Cebu City government — and was initiated long before her term — Baricuatro stressed that her position has remained consistent.

“I’ve always said, which I’ve been consistent since the campaign, we have to get the project finished,” she said.

The World Bank has warned that the Philippines risks losing a $141 million loan if no major progress is made in the next 15 months. The project, aimed at easing traffic congestion in Metro Cebu through a dedicated bus system, has suffered years of delays due to right-of-way issues, leadership changes, and heritage preservation concerns.

Baricuatro welcomed the World Bank’s openness to restructure and simplify the project, calling it a potential turning point. She also noted that historical and heritage-related concerns previously raised have already been addressed.

According to Capitol consultant on heritage affairs Jobers Bersales, the project no longer poses any violations to protected historical zones or landmarks, which had been a sticking point in earlier assessments.

In a separate report, the World Bank emphasized that delivering the CBRT successfully now hinges on strong collaboration between national agencies and Cebu’s newly elected provincial and city officials.

With only 15 months left before the loan expires, the global lender urged stakeholders to treat the project with urgency — or risk losing both a major infrastructure investment and an opportunity to modernize Cebu’s public transport system.