By Robert B. Roque, Jr.
A bridge falling down is the stuff of nightmares – and that’s just what happened with the newly retrofitted Cabagan-Sta. Maria Bridge in Isabela last February 27.
A truck — inconceivably overloaded with 102 tons of quarried stone — rolls into the bridge designed for no more than 40 tons in an attempt to cross.
The third span of the bridge from the Cabagan side collapsed, leaving a dreadful and terrifying sight that has been shared across social media. I’ve seen the comments, and yes, at a glance, the way the bridge crumpled like Lego bricks might seem absurd — almost laughable.
But this is in no way a laughing matter at all. That disastrous collapse was deadly and it was only by sheer luck that six people injured in that event even survived.
What should burn us up inside as a nation is that this is not a mere accident, but another specimen of how corrupted and diminished public works can be.
It is the sum of our most hated societal ill, a direct equation of corruption —where plundered funds, substandard materials, and unpoliced oversight converge to create disasters waiting to happen.
Let’s get the facts straight: This bridge underwent a ₱1.22-billion retrofitting, supposedly to strengthen it, yet it collapsed. ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro’s calling this “alarming” is an understatement, although it’s enough for her to be right to seek a congressional inquiry.
This is not an isolated case. As former Rep. Antonio Tinio points out, infrastructure projects failing too soon is a recurring scandal in this country. Systemic corruption and shoddy oversight let these failures happen, again and again, while billions are wasted.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is now investigating as if this disaster came as a surprise. But how does a billion-peso bridge, patched up with another billion in retrofitting, still end up in ruins? The Bureau of Design and the Bureau of Construction are stepping in as if the engineering lapses weren’t already obvious. Meanwhile, the local government and its building officials, whose duty was to ensure compliance and safety, were either asleep or complicit.
Heads must roll, President BBM promised, but let’s be clear: “heads” — not fall guys. Corruption at this scale doesn’t thrive at the bottom; it festers from the top, with every hand that signs off on bloated contracts and every eye that turns away from substandard work. If Congress and the Executive let this slide, they become part of the rot.
With serious investigation and real muscle and oversight done in this case, those responsible should be charged with plunder and economic sabotage and jailed.
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