Father of the Mandaue-Mactan Bridge
It was on July 4, 1973 (44 years ago) that the Mandaue-Opon Bridge (later known as the Mandaue-Mactan Bridge) was officially opened by then president Ferdinand Edralin Marcos.
The Official Gazette, in its Official Week in Review: June 29-July 5, 1973, wrote:
“July 4. THE PRESIDENT pledged that in the New Society, all regions of the country will have an equal share in the progress. The Chief Executive made this assurance at the official opening of the P45 million Mandaue-Opon Bridge, the second span linking Visayan Islands to be inaugurated in three days. The President told an audience of some 20,000 people led by Cebu Officials, that Cebu, the Visayas and the Mindanao “will receive funds from the national government and the rewards of progress.” He stressed that the unjust practice of the old society to funnel government funds only for the development of cities in Luzon will not be countenanced in the new order. “So long I am President, Cebu, Visayas and Mindanao will progress as will any other part of the nation,” the President stated.”
The officials of Cebu at that time were Atty. Demetrio Cortes, mayor of Mandaue City; Dr. Osmundo G. Rama, mayor of Cebu City; and Atty. Rene G. Espina, the father of the Mactan Bridge.
Espina was appointed in 1960 as the youngest Social Security administrator. It was in 1956 that he became the Visayas chairman of the Ramon Magsaysay for President Movement. In 1963, he ran against the incumbent governor of Cebu, Atty. Francisco “Kikoy” Remotigue, whom he defeated with over 73,000 votes.
Governor Espina was reelected in the 1967 elections. He was appointed by President Marcos in 1968 as acting secretary of Public Works, Transportation and Communications (now the separate departments of DPWH and DOTC). He held the position of governor and Cabinet secretary at the same time.
It was on September 19, 1968 that the historical meeting and visit of Governor Espina to the Presidential Palace that officially ushered in the birth of the bridge that would connect Mandaue and Opon, dreamed for years by thousands of Cebuanos. Here is the excerpt from the Official Week in Review: September 15-19, 1968 of the Official Gazette:
“Sept. 19. Gov. Rene Espina of Cebu, Mayor Beatriz Durano of Danao City, Mayors Beatriz Calderon of Samboan and Demetrio Cortez of Mandaue, both in Cebu and S.C. Shangkuan, contractor of the Mandaue-Opon bridge.
The group discussed with the President the construction of the bridge linking Mandaue to Opon, and also the proposed reclamation of 218-hectare area, a joint project of the Cebu Provincial and Mandaue Municipal Governments.”
The design lobbied by Espina was that the height of the bridge be higher from the water mark to the highest steel girder clearance as the topmost silo of the General Milling Corporation as benchmark. The height was based on the idea of Secretary Espina’s technical adviser, Capt. Nacario Villamor, then chief of the Harbor Pilot of Cebu, so that big ships could pass the bridge and would not go around. However, Espina was prevailed upon by Marcos to approve the design since that was the only cost of the project he could allocate. It was during the time of Secretary David Consunji that the bridge was completed. Despite the declaration of Martial Law by Marcos on September 21, 1972 and the closure of the Senate (Espina ran for the Senate in 1969 and won), Espina was appointed by Marcos as part of the “Presidential Adviser of Four”, an Ilocano-dominated clique. This enabled Espina to monitor the construction of the bridge and ensuring its completion.
When Espina resigned as Governor of Cebu in September 1969 to run for the Senate, the province was left in the hands of Dr. Osmundo Genson Rama, the vice governor son of Don Vicente Rama. (To be continued)
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