“We got promises—inspections, accountability—but they faded”
ON FEB. 27, 2025, at 8:47 pm, a new bridge in Isabela—built for P1.225 billion—crumpled into the river, taking a father’s truck and leaving six others, including a child, clinging to life.
This wasn’t a freak accident. It was negligence—steel and trust collapsing together. The wreckage asks: How many more must die before we confront the rot of corruption and incompetence?
A pattern of pain
We’ve been here before. In 2022, the Clarin Bridge in Bohol fell, killing four—a 50-year-old relic battered by quakes and overloaded trucks.
That same year, Pangasinan’s Wawa Bridge buckled, injuring four more. The DPWH once admitted only 51 percent of 4,361 bridges were “good”; 5 percent were disasters waiting to happen.
We got promises—inspections, accountability—but they faded. Now Isabela, a bridge barely a month old, forces us to face the truth.
The law steps in
The National Bureau of Investigation is on it, armed with the Anti-Graft Act (RA 3019). Section 3(e) targets “gross negligence” or “bad faith” causing public harm—think substandard work approved for kickbacks.
The Procurement Reform Act (RA 9184) demands fair bidding and quality; violators face up to 15 years. President Marcos Jr. says “heads will roll.” The law agrees. But will justice?
Engineering flaws, blind eyes
The DPWH claims the bridge handled 45 tons per vehicle. The truck? 102 tons.
Overloading played its part, but a 2025 bridge, built over a decade, shouldn’t fold like that. Was the design wrong—ignoring real traffic?
Were materials swapped for cheap fakes while bills lied? DPWH’s Mathias Malenab says they’re probing “structural integrity.”
They’d better. And regulation? Trucks don’t hit 102 tons without lax weigh stations and complicit officials. This was a system failing, not a lone mishap.
Corruption’s toll
Corruption isn’t a guess—it’s a fact.
Studies say it devours 15-35 percent of construction budgets here. For Isabela’s P1.225 billion, that’s up to P428 million lost to “extras”—bribes to rig bids or dodge oversight.
The CoST Initiative’s research calls procurement a swamp of fraud; ex-senator Ping Lacson suspects shoddy materials.
When a bridge dies in 27 days, you don’t just blame the truck—you blame the builders.
This hits hard: a widow wondering how to feed her kids, a child scarred for life. Corruption doesn’t just steal cash—it steals futures.
Fixing the fracture
We can mend this. Here’s how:
Transparency: Post every peso spent, every contract signed online. Let us see it, check it, challenge it.
Watchdogs: Build an independent body—engineers, citizens, unbound by DPWH—with power to probe and punish.
Tech: Digitize procurement; use blockchain to lock in honesty. No more backroom deals.
Jail: Enforce RA 3019 and RA 9184 relentlessly. Lock up one big name; others will fall in line.
Us: Train communities to watch projects, shield whistleblowers. When we’re vigilant, corruption falters.
Why we stall
Our laws are strong, but enforcement is weak. Political ties protect culprits; agencies like the NBI lack muscle.
Transparency threatens the corrupt—they’ll resist.
Tech needs cash and know-how we’re short on. Worst, too many of us accept corruption as “normal.” That’s the real fight—our own apathy.
Your turn
Demand the NBI names names—contractors, officials—and files charges fast.
Back Chel Diokno’s push for victim aid and detours; hold DPWH to its structural review. Groups like Akbayan can sue under RA 3019, forcing courts to move.
You can join watchdogs, snap photos of overloaded trucks, flood Facebook with evidence. Reformers like Lacson can pitch bills for oversight and tech.
This collapse bared our wounds—and sparked a chance.
For that lost driver, that injured child, for every stolen peso, let’s build more than bridges. Let’s build a system that doesn’t betray us.