
The Cebu BRT story feels like a case study of PH infrastructure problems
I just finished reading the World Bank restructuring details on Cebu BRT and grabe, it’s both fascinating and frustrating.
What was originally planned:
13+ km dedicated BRT corridor
87k daily riders
modern mass transit backbone for Cebu
What remains now after 11 years:
only 2.38 km of dedicated lanes
3.6k projected riders
incomplete infrastructure before loan closure
major works that apparently never even started procurement
Parang every classic PH infra problem showed up in one project:
-admin transitions -ROW issues -staffing turnover -vacant key positions for years -procurement bottlenecks -changing priorities
The sad part is Cebu genuinely needs better mass transit. 😞
If you're interested to read : https://mb.com.ph/2026/05/18/inside-the-delays-and-shrinking-ambitions-of-cebus-decade-old-brt-project