Agusan Sur P920-M bridge still ‘ongoing’ after 7 years
SAN FRANCISCO, AGUSAN DEL SUR—Instead of the bridge that would connect this town to nearby Bayugan City, only a column of concrete foundations or piers have so far been built seven years after the P920-million project started.
Worse, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) now estimates that more than P2 billion would be needed to complete the unfinished project, a source from the DPWH told the Inquirer.
A site visit on Oct. 28 by the Davao City-based watchdog Philippine Anti-Corruption Czar (PACC) revealed what had been a common sight among residents for years: isolated piers rising from the Agusan River; floodplain overgrown with vegetation, flanked by soggy farmland and surrounded by river debris.
“There is no bridge deck, no abutment, no superstructure and no usable approach roads,” the PACC reported.
The DPWH, however, continued to tag the project as “ongoing.”
Amid public frustration over the project, the local government of Esperanza issued a statement, distancing itself from the project.
Not ours
According to the municipal government, Esperanza has no participation in the procurement, design or implementation of the project, which has been undertaken by the national government through the DPWH.
Esperanza town, however, welcomed investigations into the bridge.
“We hope the ongoing scrutiny will shed light on the truth and help counter misinformation,” the municipality said in a statement.
Louie Ceniza, PACC chair, said he was alarmed by how little the project had accomplished all through its seven years. Launched in 2018, the project barely progressed beyond its first phase.
Ceniza described the structures as “posts without purpose.”
He said the P920 million allotted for the project did not correspond to what had been built so far.
He pointed out serious design flaws of the project, its weak supervision and questionable spending. He also cited major inconsistencies between the engineering plans and its actual progress.
Engineers who accompanied the inspection said the bridge appeared grossly over-engineered for a secondary road.
Design flaws
They said the structural design resembled those of major expressways such as the Maharlika Highway, despite Esperanza’s modest traffic demand.
The inspection team said the government could have completed the bridge at a fraction of the cost if the design had been more practical.
They said that instead of a long viaduct-type structure across marshland, a more efficient solution would have been to build a 1-kilometer raised dike or embankment leading to a shorter bridge directly crossing the Agusan River—a design they estimated to cost only around P300 million.
PACC’s findings also highlighted fragmented implementation, including repeated awards of similar bored-pile contracts without synchronized planning.
This resulted in misaligned piers, disjointed work phases and delays worsened by poor coordination among DPWH divisions and erratic funding releases.
DPWH Caraga information officer Connie Calo said in an interview that no personnel from the regional office accompanied the PACC inspection.
DPWH also has not issued any public explanation for the prolonged inaction, the rising cost requirements or the absence of tangible progress of the project.
No details
Based on the DPWH record, the main contractor of the project was Butuan City-based Adfil Corp. The Inquirer tried to contact the company’s office, but got no reply.
The DPWH also failed to release the details of contracts, progress reports or funding details requested through a Freedom of Information petition filed almost two months ago.
The request received only automated acknowledgments.
Residents, who once hoped the bridge would ease travel to Bayugan and improve access to the highway network, said they were doubtful now if construction would resume after several failed assurances.
