Panguil Bay Bridge. Photo courtesy of Presidential Communications Office
TUBOD, Lanao del Norte (MindaNews / 27 September) – The 3.169-kilometer Panguil Bay Bridge, currently the longest in Mindanao, was inaugurated Friday.
The bridge will shorten travel time to seven minutes from the usual 2.5 hours, which includes the waiting time and the queuing at the ports in Tubod and in Ozamiz City.
The bridge, which connects this town to Tangub City in Misamis Occidental, cost P7.37 billion, according to the Department of Public Works and Highways in a news item posted on its website on March 10, 2023.
The bridge connects the dreams and aspirations of every Filipino not only in Lanao del Norte and Misamis Occidental but of the entire people of Mindanao, Lanao del Norte Governor Imelda Quibranza-Dimaporo said in a statement during the inauguration.
“This was the long been dream of my late father Governor Arsenio A. Quibranza which was supported by the late Mayor Alfonso Tan of Tangub City that came into reality today,” Dimaporo said.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., who attended the inauguration, said the project was four decades in the making.
He added the bridge will increase economic activities in the region.
Discussions on the Panguil Bay Bridge Project began in 2014. The Philippine government secured funding for the project through a loan agreement with the Export-Import Bank of Korea-Economic Development Cooperation Fund (KEXIM-EDCF). The agreement was signed on April 28, 2016.
At the time the agreement was signed, the DPWH put the project cost at only P4.859 billion, of which P4.272 billion would be funded by KEXIM-EDCF, while the remaining P587 million would be funded by the national government.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Ambassador Lee Sang Hwa of the Republic of Korea grace the inauguration of the Panguil Bay Bridge on 27 September 2024. MindaNews photo by RICHEL V. UMEL
Romeo Quicio, an architect from Tubod said he has witnessed and experienced the hardship of traveling for at least two hours from Tubod to Ozamiz via vessels from Mukas port in neighboring Kolambugan town.
Frank Bijod, a fisherman-farmer leader in Kapatagan town said the bridge would mean saving on travel time expenses in delivering fish and farm produce to the Visayas via Tangub.
DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan said the bridge may be used by all types of vehicles but trucks can only carry a maximum of 30 tons.
A weigh bridge will be installed to regulate the weight of trucks that will pass through the bridge.
Bonoan said the bridge can withstand a magnitude 8 earthquake.
Misamis Occidental Governor Henry Oaminal Sr. said a Panguil Bay Bridge Development Council will be created.
Meanwhile, Mayor Dionesio Cababug Jr. of Tubod said the local government unit will assist the affected pumpboat operators plying the Tubod-Tangub route.
Cabahug said there are fewer than 10 pumpboat operators who will be trained along with their crew in tourism-related livelihood.
“The fisherfolk will also be given livelihood opportunities. What is important is their mindset to work harder and not to be too dependent on financial assistance from the government,” he said. (Richel V. Umel/MindaNews)
