Vice governor airs warning: Mandaue-Mactan Bridge "not safe"

CEBU, Philippines - If Cebu Vice Gov. Gregorio Sanchez Jr.’s source of information is to be believed, the foundation of the Mandaue-Mactan Bridge is already unsafe and would collapse in a magnitude three earthquake.

Responding to what he said was a constant feed of information from concerned individuals, including a Japanese contractor who lost in a bidding for the bridge’s repair five years ago, Sanchez took members of the Cebu media for an inspection of the bridge’s columns yesterday. 

“Now is the time to serve and listen to the voice of the people. Recently, my week will not pass without receiving a single text or call of worry over the state of the old Mandaue-Mactan Bridge. We must do something,” Sanchez told reporters.

Sanchez and members of the media left the Capitol Legislative Building at around 9:30 a.m. yesterday and headed to Barangay Calero in Liloan for the yacht that will take them to the bridge.

Two men, Ramil Cuyos and Joseph Barossa of Barangay Calero, who dived to make the “inspection,” reported that they saw cracks in the bridge’s Pile 7 and Pile 9. The two estimated the crack in Pile 7 to be one meter long and one inch wide. The crack in Pile 9, according to them, was longer, although thinner.

Sanchez wants that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to conduct an investigation into the matter. He refused to name his source, the Japanese contractor, but he is convinced that the Metro Cebu Bridge Management Board (MCBMB) should look into the matter. Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia chairs the bridge board.

“This is not to further add fuel into the fire between the governor and me, but this is just a humble request from the constituents,” Sanchez said.

The two top Capitol officials have been trading barbs against each other since early this year. They ran under different political parties.

Sanchez is insisting that the DPWH design section must check the structural stability of the bridge and must give assurance that the bridge is safe.Otherwise, he said, the bridge must be repaired immediately.

 In April 2008, a barge that was towed by a tugboat rammed pier 8 of the old bridge. A month before that, an oil tanker also rammed the Marcelo Fernan Bridge. The bridge also incurred damage in 1990 at the height of typhoon Ruping, when its superstructure was hit by M/V Sanko Elegance on its way to General Milling Corporation.

The two shipping companies that rammed the bridge blamed the strong current at the channel. During the deliberations after the accidents, there were suggestions to close the channel to ships to protect the bridges but this was opposed, as travel time for ships would then be longer.Sanchez cited that the current of the sea waters at the Mactan Channel is strong and affect the structure. On top of that, there are also 4, 000 vehicles using the old bridge in a day.

He revealed that way back in 1988 when he was still the Provincial Board chairman for the committee on infrastructure, they already discovered that some steel bars of the bridge’s piers were exposed, and these were even sawn by the residents for selling.

The Mandaue-Mactan Bridge was constructed in 1971 and was opened to traffic in 1973. It was closed in December 2008 for regular maintenance work and re-asphalting. — /JPM (FREEMAN NEWS)