Wooden footbridge that collapsed four years ago in Zamboanga replaced with concrete materials
By Liza Jocson
ZAMBOANGA CITY - The controversial wooden footbridge which gave way under the weight of politicians and their staff has been replaced with another bridge made of concrete materials.
Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar inspected the rehabilitation of the controversial footbridge on Tuesday, April 26, four years after the infamous collapse which saw the lady chief executive, then Zamboanga Representative Celso Lobregat, former Negros Occidental Congressman Albee Benitez and their staff plunge into the murky waters of Barangay Rio Hondo.

The replacement of the wooden bridge is part of phase two of Zamboanga’s Roadmap to Recovery and Reconstruction (Z3R), a project to reconstruct homes and infrastructure destroyed during the 2013 Zamboanga siege.
The project has a total length of 776 linear meters with an area of 1.975 hectares at Z3R site in Sitio Hongkong Rio Hondo.
First phase of the project started on February 2, 2020 and was completed on October 15, 2021. Phase two is still ongoing.

The mayor made the inspection of the project with representatives from the National Housing Authority (NHA), Rio Hondo barangay officials and the private contractor.
On April 26, 2018, Climaco, together with Lobregat, Benitez and their staff, were conducting an inspection of the Z3R project in line with a congressional inquiry when the footbridge collapsed. Similar incidents involving residents of Barangay Rio Hondo had taken place even before and after the April 26, 2018 incident.