MANILA – President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. identified design flaw as the primary reason for the recent collapse of the Cabagan-Sta. Maria Bridge in Isabela province.
In a media interview after an inspection, the Chief Executive said the design of the bridge was “very weak” after its original budget of P1.8 billion was reduced to P1 billion.
“Ang puno’t dulo nito ay design flaw. Mali ang design. Design is basically really weak,” Marcos said. “Ang history kasi nito, dapat ang ang project cost nito is P1.8 billion. Binawasan under P1 billion para makamura.”
“Tinipid. Useless. Ngayon, babalik na naman tayo. Gagastos na naman tayo. Papalitan na naman natin. Parang nagtayo na naman tayo ng bago,” he added.
Instead of blaming someone for the collapse of the bridge, President Marcos said he would focus first on fixing the problem.
“You know, I always have the saying: Fix the problem, not the blame. Ayusin muna natin ‘yung problema. Believe me, you’ll find out who is responsible. Who is responsible is basically who made the design because the design is poor. And then also, those trucks should never have been on the bridge,” he added.
The bridge, spanning 990 meters and consisting of 12 arches and nine spans of pre-stressed concrete girders, was designed for light vehicles only and is a vital route linking Cabagan and Santa Maria to Enrile, Cagayan and Tabuk City, Kalinga.
The construction of the bridge commenced in November 2014 and was completed on Feb. 1, 2025 with a total cost of P1.22 billion, including the bridge and approaches. The contractor of the bridge was R.D. Interior, Jr. Construction.
President Marcos said the contractor followed the plan and the construction work was done according to the book, up to the specification, but there is a design problem since the specification was wrong.
“Ito lang ang suspension bridge na nakita ko sa buong mundo na hindi kable at iyan na mismo ang bumigay. Bumigay ang bakal. Kung kable iyan, hindi dapat bumigay iyan. Tapos yung pag-anchor ng support, tignan niyo, doon lang sa baba. Dapat sa taas iyan, hanggang sa taas,” Marcos said.
President Marcos has earlier ordered for a deeper investigation into the collapse of the newly retrofitted bridge.
According to Presidential Communications Office’s (PCO) Undersecretary Claire Castro, thorough investigation is needed since initial findings have shown that the bridge was “under design” and could only accommodate light vehicles.
“Nagkaroon na po talaga ng imbestigasyon but it’s initial investigation. Ang nakikita po, sabi nga po natin, ito ay nag-start noong 2014 at lumalabas po na 90 percent ay naisagawa po ito sa panahon po ni dating pangulong [Rodrigo] Duterte,” Castro said in a press briefing on Wednesday.
“Titignan po talaga ‘yung sinasabing ‘under design’. Ano ‘yung naging cause kung bakit hindi kakayanin ‘yung mga heavy vehicle. Lumalabas nga po sa initial design, pang-light vehicle lang siya,” she added.
The Palace official also said that the owners of heavy trucks that passed over the bridge may also be held liable since they are aware that the bridge is designed to only carry light vehicles./PN
