HAGONOY,
Bulacan—Residents of the municipalities of Calumpit and Hagonoy demanded
immediate major repair on the more than 30 year old hanging bridge that links
villages from the said towns.
This
came as Governor Wilhelmino Alvarado and officials of the Department of Public
Works and Highways (DPWH) vowed to conduct necessary repairs.
Located
along the Labangan channel here, the Iba hanging bridge suffered another
damaged a week ago, the third since the 2011 flood spawned by typhoon Pedring.
Village
officials from Barangay Iba here led by Chairman Celerino Fajardo conducted
initial repair on Thursday.
However,
local residents along with village officials said that the repair is now
enough.
“It
needs a major repair to ensure safety of residents especially school children,”
said Soledad Santos, a village councilwoman.
The
same was affirmed by Fajardo who noted that only one major repair has been
conducted on the hanging bridge which was constructed in early 1977.
“We
don’t have enough funds that’s why we requested for major repair after the 2011
flood,” said Fajardo.
He
said that during the flood spawned by typhoon Pedring in 2011, water lilies got
stuck on the bridge and it twisted as flood waters rushed beneath.
Late
last year, the provincial government initiated a minor repair on the said
bridge, but on March 3, the wooden girder in the middle of the 142 linear
meters hanging bridge snapped.
It
left about 10 feet long part of the hanging bridge hanging.
Ver
Fajardo, a local resident said that not only school children pass through the
bridge everyday,
He
said that even workers of the United Pulp and Paper Corporation used the said
hanging bridge as a short cut in going to work or home.
On
Saturday, Governor Alvarado vowed to send a team that will assess the damage
while Engineer Ruel Angeles of the DPWH First Engineering District said they
are looking for fund that will be used for the immediate repair of the bridge.
Both
Alvarado and Angeles agreed that to ensure safety of residents, the hanging
bridge must be replaced by a concrete and permanent one.
However,
they said project of such magnitude will require a large budget. Dino Balabo
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