Marcos sees design problem over collapsed Isabela bridge

President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. said Thursday the collapsed Cabagan-Sta. Maria Bridge in Isabela had a design problem. 

''Ang ending nito, ang puno't dulo nito design flaw... it is a design flaw, mali 'yung design (It was a design flaw, the design was wrong),'' Marcos said in an ambush interview.

''Okay naman... 'yung construction, 'yung contractor sinundan naman ang plano, by the book naman ang kaniyang ginawa, up to specification 'yung kanyang ginawa 'yun lang 'yung specification, mali...'' he added. 

(The construction was okay. The contractor followed the plan, however, the specification was wrong.)

''This is a design problem,'' Marcos said.

According to the President, the cost of this project was lowered from P1.8 billion to less than a billion.

''Ang history kasi nito dapat ang funding nito was supposed to be – ang project cost nito is P1.8 billion. So, binawasan to under P1 billion para makamura. Ayan inayos ngayon, ginawa ngayon ‘yung detail design, design is really weak. Dahil kung tutuusin ninyo this is supposed to be a suspension bridge, nakasabit. Nakaganyan – ‘yung arko na ganyan tapos ‘yung bridge suportado nung kable,'' he explained. 

(The project cost was P1.8 billion but was lowered to less than a billion. Then, it was fixed, the detail design was made, the design is really weak. This was supposed to be a suspension bridge wherein it was supposed to be supported by a cable.) 

He said this was the only suspension bridge, which he sees, that was not supported by cables.

''Ito lang ang suspension bridge na nakita ko sa buong mundo na hindi kable at iyan na mismo ang bumigay,'' Marcos said.

(This is the only suspension bridge that I see that has no cable and then it collapsed.)

Marcos lamented that the supposed savings from bringing down the project cost went to nothing because the government has to shell out money for the repair of the bridge. 

''We have no choice. We have to go back. So, ‘yung nagtitipid tayo, tinipid natin sa 1.8 (billion), useless. Ngayon, babalik na naman tayo. Gagastos na naman tayo nang malaki. Papalitan natin ‘yung mga support. Parang nagtayo na naman tayo ng bagong tulay,'' he said.

(What we saved from the P1.8 billion was useless. We will again use a huge amount of money to replace the support. It is as if we will be constructing a new bridge.) 

Asked who could be held liable over the collapse of the bridge, Marcos said he intends to fix the problem first and later on, it could be known who were accountable for the incident. 

''You know, I always have a saying, fix the problem, not the blame. Ayusin muna natin ‘yung problema (Let's fix the problem). Believe me, we will find out who is responsible,'' he said. 

''Who is responsible is basically who made the design ‘cause their design was poor. Look what happened. And then also, those trucks should never have been on the bridge,'' Marcos added.

The Cabagan-Sta. Maria Bridge collapsed last February 27 after a dump truck passed over it. The incident left six individuals injured.

The Department of Public Works and Highways said the bridge can only accommodate up to 44 tons, which is far from the weight of the truck, which was 100 tons.

Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Atty. Claire Castro disclosed that there would be a deeper probe as regards the collapse of the said bridge, saying that it was ''underdesigned.''

Castro said the construction of the bridge started in 2014 and 90% of it was done during the previous administration.

The DPWH earlier said the private consortium of UTCP and a certain engineer were behind the bridge’s design. GMA Integrated News had reached out to them for comment. —AOL/RSJ, GMA Integrated News