Tarlac Rep. Maria Cristina Angeles said Thursday that she had long sought government funding to strengthen two bridges that recently collapsed due to heavy rains and strong river currents.
Angeles said she had asked the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to address concerns over the foundations of the two bridges even when she was still a mayor.
She was referring to the 136-meter-long Agana Bridge, which collapsed over the weekend, and the 720-meter-long Aquino Bridge, which collapsed on Aug. 28.
‘Through the years that I was mayor, I had long asked the DPWH to give sufficient attention to finding a solution to strengthen the foundations of these two bridges, but this was not prioritized by previous officials,’ Angeles said in Filipino.
‘As a newly seated congresswoman, I personally appealed to Secretary Vince Dizon during the recent budget hearing to provide sufficient funding for the bridges,’ she added.
Angeles also thanked President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon for visiting the area to inspect the damage.
‘I am deeply grateful to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Secretary Vince for their personal visit, concern, solutions and immediate response,’ she said in Filipino.
Angeles also appealed for unity among Tarlac residents and urged them to refrain from politicizing the issue or pointing fingers.
‘Instead, let us unite and help one another, and respect the DPWH as it provides the correct information about what happened,’ she said in Filipino.
On Wednesday, Marcos and Dizon inspected the ongoing construction of a Bailey bridge intended to restore access following the collapse of Agana Bridge.
The President directed the DPWH to fast-track the construction of the alternate bridge and said the national government would provide P300 million in assistance to the Tarlac City government.
Angeles joined Tarlac City Mayor Susan Yap, Tarlac Gov. Christian Yap and other local officials during the inspection.
Marcos also said Wednesday that widespread flooding in Central Luzon and Metro Manila resulted from the failure to implement a flood control master plan that had existed for decades.
‘We already have a master plan; it’s just never been executed,’ Marcos said when asked whether the public could expect such a plan.
‘We’re only executing it now. We have had a master plan for decades, but nothing was done. Only now. We’re only starting it now,’ he added, without specifying which master plan he was referring to.
The remarks came as 9.4 million people, or 2.7 million families, across Luzon were displaced by flooding caused by three storms and the prevailing southwest monsoon, or habagat, since Aug. 1.
On Aug. 29, a sport utility vehicle fell into the Tarlac River as Agana Bridge collapsed. Only one of its five passengers survived.
The remains of two passengers were recovered in Pangasinan, while two others remained missing.
Tarlac was placed under a state of calamity on Aug. 30 following widespread damage caused by the southwest monsoon.