TACLOBAN CITY — A long-discussed plan to connect Luzon and the Visayas with a permanent link will take its first official step next year, with funding for a feasibility study included in the proposed 2026 national budget.

House Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan said Tuesday that the Bicameral Conference Committee approved P130 million for the study. The project aims to connect Matnog, Sorsogon, to Allen, Northern Samar, through either an undersea tunnel or a bridge.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is expected to sign the 2026 General Appropriations Act into law by the first week of January.

The proposed link would span roughly 28 kilometers across the San Bernardino Strait. Libanan said the project is necessary to address the “structural weakness” of the current roll-on/roll-off (RORO) ferry system, which suffered from severe congestion during the recent Christmas and New Year travel rush.

“The bottleneck at Matnog is not just an inconvenience — it is a structural weakness in our national transport network,” Libanan said. “Every holiday season, the same problem repeats itself, disrupting mobility, trade and emergency access.”

Unlike the ferry system, which is frequently suspended during bad weather, a fixed link would ensure the uninterrupted movement of people and goods.

Libanan suggested the project be developed as a foreign-assisted project, utilizing official development assistance from the Japanese government or loans from the Asian Development Bank.

He also cited the Metro Manila Subway and Cebu’s Marcelo Fernan Bridge as successful models for this approach.

“We are counting on foreign development partners such as the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Asian Development Bank to help finance and oversee the tunnel or bridge project to insulate it from political interference and corruption,” Libanan said.

The minority leader stressed that foreign-assisted projects are subject to strict oversight by international consultants and external auditors and cited that the involvement of international donors creates a “double layer of accountability” to ensure transparency and discipline in infrastructure spending.