People no longer wonder why the San Juanico Bridge is damaged as claimed by officials of the public works and highways department. The common belief is that it was damaged over years of abuse and misuse by vehicles crossing the bridge. The continuous passage of heavy loads could have caused the reported damage on its structure due to purported lack of maintenance funds that the national government failed to allocate despite funding requests.
Confronted with all uncertainties caused by the reported structural damage of the San Juanico bridge, the public needs accurate information as to the extent of the damage, with the DPWH sharing to the media and the public the underwater video footages of the foundation and columns that were found structurally weak as well as images of the steel structure and concrete pavement under the bridge.
Such information will assuage the anxiety and draw cooperation from the public insofar as traffic regulations are being implemented. There is also a need to inform the public of the cost and the time line for the completion of the bridge retrofitting as well as the repair of the Amandayehan port which had been reported almost finished but is still waiting for the approval of the Philippine Ports Authority.
In the meantime, the drivers of passenger buses detoured to the nearest alternate route by way of the wharf in San Antonio, Basey, Samar. It is well to mention that San Antonio had already been serving as gateway from many barangays in the nearby towns of Santa Rita and Marabut as it has a fixed schedule of motor vessels travelling to the regional center that is Tacloban City at an average voyage time of fifteen minutes and an interval of departure among motor vessels of fifteen minutes.
The public are appalled and dismayed as they notice heavy trucks with farm products, construction materials and other overweight loads being held and impounded at the foot of the bridge, albeit momentarily as the said heavy vehicles are nowhere in sight at both ends of the bridge early at dawn the next day.
The public could only infer that the heavy vehicles passed through the guarded posts at both ends of the bridge maybe while those on duty blinked or looked the other way as the heavy vehicles pass through their post. The public could only guess the cause why such incidents happen despite guards and technical men manning the weigh bridge who are tasked to implement weight limits. Heavy equipment loaded with overweight cargoes are nowhere in sight after being held at both ends of the bridge where weigh bridge stations are set.
The public had been used to seeing heavy vehicles with overweight loads being stopped momentarily but are able to cross overnight. People could only infer that those heavy vehicles with overweight cargoes took a magic passage.
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