Marcos Jr. blames ‘poor design’ for bridge collapse

MANILA, Philippines —   “Design flaw” and scrimping on costs led to the collapse of the newly opened Cabagan-Sta. Maria Bridge in Isabela, President Marcos said yesterday as he vowed to identify those responsible for the incident.

Speaking to the media after inspecting the collapsed bridge, Marcos said the lowering of the project cost from P1.8 billion to less than P1 billion resulted in a “weak” design.

He said the budget allocated for the construction of the bridge was supposed to be P900 million, but the cost reached P1.2 billion because of the need to retrofit the structure. The retrofitting was done to address flaws detected during the construction phase.

“We have no choice. We have to go back. So we tried to lower the costs. Our savings
 from the (original project cost of) P1.8 billion (were) useless,” the President said. “The root cause of this is the design flaw.”

The Cabagan-Sta. Maria Bridge opened only last Feb. 1 but collapsed 26 days later after three dump trucks carrying boulders and weighing about 102 tons tried crossing the ramp. Six persons were hurt in the incident.

Marcos noted that the acceptable load for the bridge is 44 tons, way lower than the weight of the trucks that passed over it. He cited the need for more careful monitoring of load of vehicles passing over bridges.

The construction of the P1.225-billion bridge started in November 2014 during the term of the late president Benigno Aquino III. However, 90 percent of the construction work was finished during the Duterte administration, according to Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro.

Asked who he thought was liable for the collapse, Marcos said: “I always have a saying, fix the problem not the blame. Let us fix the problem. Believe me, we will find out who is responsible.

“Who is responsible is basically who made the design (because) their design was poor. Look what happened. And then also, those trucks should never have been on the bridge,” he added.

Marcos said the lowering of the cost had forced the government to spend more on repairing the structure.

“Now we are going back. We will spend huge sums again... It’s like building a new bridge,” the Chief Executive said.

At a press briefing at Malacañang, Castro said the government would investigate to determine why the project was pursued despite weaknesses in the design.

“It won’t stop there. If someone from the present administration is liable, there would be accountability,” the Palace press officer said.

Castro suggested that the national government and local governments inspect all bridges built during the time of Duterte.

House probe sought

Militant lawmakers belonging to the Makabayan bloc, meanwhile, are pushing for an investigation on Cabagan-Santa Maria bridge collapse, in aid of legislation.

Through House Resolution 2249, Deputy Minority Leader France Castro, and Reps. Arlene Brosas of Gabriela and Raoul Manuel of Kabataan party-list urged the House to dig deeper into the collapse of bridge to “identify the responsible parties.”

“It is alarming that a P1.22-billion bridge that was just retrofitted on Feb. 1 has already collapsed. This is not a simple accident or mere negligence. We need to examine the possibility of corruption and substandard materials,” Castro of party-list ACT Teachers noted.

Castro called for a congressional inquiry to determine accountability at all levels, from the contractor RD Interior Jr. Construction to the officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways which approved and supervised the construction of the project.

“The flagman should not be the only one blamed here. The contractor and DPWH officials who approved and supervised this project must be held accountable. If corruption and substandard materials are proven, they should be charged with plunder and economic sabotage,” she said.

“If the administration is truly serious that ‘heads will roll,’ not only should the small people be held accountable but also high officials who were negligent or benefited from possible anomalies,” Castro said.

Her colleague, former congressman Antonio Tinio, also called for a comprehensive probe on incident.

Tinio pointed out that while authorities are currently focusing on the flagman who allowed the overloaded trucks to pass, the investigation must “extend to the quality of materials used and possible corruption in the procurement and construction processes.”

“While the police are pursuing the flagman, the quality of materials used and possible corruption in procurement and construction should also be investigated,” Tinio said. He emphasized the incident reflects a broader pattern of infrastructure failures due to corruption in government projects.

BBM blames ‘poor design’ for bridge collapse

Alexis Romero, Delon Porcalla

MANILA, Philippines —   “Design flaw” and scrimping on costs led to the collapse of the newly opened Cabagan-Sta. Maria Bridge in Isabela, President Marcos said yesterday as he vowed to identify those responsible for the incident.

Speaking to the media after inspecting the collapsed bridge, Marcos said the lowering of the project cost from P1.8 billion to less than P1 billion resulted in a “weak” design.

He said the budget allocated for the construction of the bridge was supposed to be P900 million, but the cost reached P1.2 billion because of the need to retrofit the structure. The retrofitting was done to address flaws detected during the construction phase.

“We have no choice. We have to go back. So we tried to lower the costs. Our savings
 from the (original project cost of) P1.8 billion (were) useless,” the President said. “The root cause of this is the design flaw.”

The Cabagan-Sta. Maria Bridge opened only last Feb. 1 but collapsed 26 days later after three dump trucks carrying boulders and weighing about 102 tons tried crossing the ramp. Six persons were hurt in the incident.

Marcos noted that the acceptable load for the bridge is 44 tons, way lower than the weight of the trucks that passed over it. He cited the need for more careful monitoring of load of vehicles passing over bridges.

The construction of the P1.225-billion bridge started in November 2014 during the term of the late president Benigno Aquino III. However, 90 percent of the construction work was finished during the Duterte administration, according to Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro.

Asked who he thought was liable for the collapse, Marcos said: “I always have a saying, fix the problem not the blame. Let us fix the problem. Believe me, we will find out who is responsible.

“Who is responsible is basically who made the design (because) their design was poor. Look what happened. And then also, those trucks should never have been on the bridge,” he added.

Marcos said the lowering of the cost had forced the government to spend more on repairing the structure.

“Now we are going back. We will spend huge sums again... It’s like building a new bridge,” the Chief Executive said.

At a press briefing at Malacañang, Castro said the government would investigate to determine why the project was pursued despite weaknesses in the design.

“It won’t stop there. If someone from the present administration is liable, there would be accountability,” the Palace press officer said.

Castro suggested that the national government and local governments inspect all bridges built during the time of Duterte.

House probe sought

Militant lawmakers belonging to the Makabayan bloc, meanwhile, are pushing for an investigation on Cabagan-Santa Maria bridge collapse, in aid of legislation.

Through House Resolution 2249, Deputy Minority Leader France Castro, and Reps. Arlene Brosas of Gabriela and Raoul Manuel of Kabataan party-list urged the House to dig deeper into the collapse of bridge to “identify the responsible parties.”

“It is alarming that a P1.22-billion bridge that was just retrofitted on Feb. 1 has already collapsed. This is not a simple accident or mere negligence. We need to examine the possibility of corruption and substandard materials,” Castro of party-list ACT Teachers noted.

Castro called for a congressional inquiry to determine accountability at all levels, from the contractor RD Interior Jr. Construction to the officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways which approved and supervised the construction of the project.

“The flagman should not be the only one blamed here. The contractor and DPWH officials who approved and supervised this project must be held accountable. If corruption and substandard materials are proven, they should be charged with plunder and economic sabotage,” she said.

“If the administration is truly serious that ‘heads will roll,’ not only should the small people be held accountable but also high officials who were negligent or benefited from possible anomalies,” Castro said.

Her colleague, former congressman Antonio Tinio, also called for a comprehensive probe on incident.

Tinio pointed out that while authorities are currently focusing on the flagman who allowed the overloaded trucks to pass, the investigation must “extend to the quality of materials used and possible corruption in the procurement and construction processes.”

“While the police are pursuing the flagman, the quality of materials used and possible corruption in procurement and construction should also be investigated,” Tinio said. He emphasized the incident reflects a broader pattern of infrastructure failures due to corruption in government projects.