A billion peso bridge north of Luzon crumbled less than a month since it was re-opened for public use, shaking public confidence on government infrastructure aside from stirring political controversy in this heated election season.
President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. has ordered a full-scale investigation of the Cabagan-Sta. Maria Bridge collapse in Isabela Province that injured six persons last February 27.
As of this writing, engineers from the Bureau of Design and Bureau of Construction were still sifting through the debris hoping to find answers why the PHP1.225 billion project broke down just 26 days since it first allowed motorists, following two rounds of retrofitting.
So far, public works officials could only point to the passing of a truck that was supposedly overloaded with boulders. With the bridge assigned a 40-ton capacity, the truck allegedly rolled by with a 102-ton burden. Three other vehicles fell with the truck along with the bridge’s ruins.
The bridge, which appeared robust with its 12 arch spans and 9 concrete girder spans, first opened in 2021 to serve as a link between the towns of Cabagan and Sta. Maria. The old bridge that connected the two localities was flood-prone.
Weeks after the opening of 2021, engineers detected structural defects and recommended retrofitting.
The first retrofitting, done in 2023, had a cost of PHP274 million. Another PHP115 million worth of retrofitting followed in 2024 until the bridge’s re-opened last February 1.
Engineer Mathias Malenab, officer-in-charge of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in Region 2, vowed an honest-to-goodness probe of the catastrophe. “The entire integrity of the structure must be scrutinized to ensure this never happens again,” he said.
Political narratives
Online supporters of former president Rodrigo Duterte have alleged that the bridge collapse was a result of “corruption under the Marcos administration,” a charge that was swiftly slammed by the President.
In a video message on March 2, President Marcos said Filipinos should be wary of fake news being spread by trolls.
“As we always say, the new Filipino is smart enough to distinguish right from wrong information. So now that fake news and disinformation are widespread, we have to be extra careful,” President Marcos said through his YouTube channel.
Marcos online supporters, for their part, argued that the bridge project was mainly implemented during Duterte’s time, insinuating that it was rushed so that it can be inaugurated while the former president was still in office.
Lawyer Luke Espiritu, a labor leader seeking a seat in Senate, challenged Sen. Mark Villar to break his silence on the bridge collapse. A non-engineer, Villar was the DPWH secretary when the bridge construction started.
As this developed, House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. France Castro called for a congressional inquiry to determine accountability of the contractor as well as DPWH officials who approved and supervised the project.
“Nakaka-alarma na ang isang P1.22 billion na bridge na kaka-retrofit lang noong February 1 ay gumuho kaagad. Hindi ito simpleng aksidente o kapabayaan lamang. Kailangang silipin ang posibilidad ng corruption at substandard materials,” Rep. Castro said in a statement.
(It’s alarming that a P1.22 billion bridge that was just retrofitted on February 1 has already collapsed. This is not just a simple accident or mere negligence. We need to examine the possibility of corruption and substandard materials.)
