Governor Jonvic Remulla ordered the Provincial Engineering Office to prioritize the accounting and dismantling of all condemned structures in Cavite.
In a Facebook post on Monday, Aug. 1, Remulla said the order will be relayed to all municipal and city engineers.
The governor's order came after eight young victims died in a collapsed suspended steel bridge in Dasmariñas City on July 26.
Remulla said barangay police officers have already warned residents not to hang out on the bridge that dates back to World War II. The bridge is locally known as "Tulay na Luma" or "Tulay na Hapon" because of its age.
"Sa umpisa'y nagsunuran, ngunit noong lumaon ay bumalik din ang halos 13 kabataan para magliwaliw at mag-Tiktok (They obeyed at first but after a while, almost 13 youths returned to hang out and make Tiktok videos)," the governor said.
"Samantala, ang luma at kinakalawang na struktura ay matagal na dapat binaklas; ngunit sa kasamaang palad ay dinala ang ating atensyon sa ibang prioridad tulad na lamang ng kasalukuyang pandemya (On the other hand, the old and rusty structure should have been dismantled long ago; unfortunately, our attention has been drawn to other priorities such as the o-going pandemic)," he added.
"Let us learn our lessons. Let us be better because of our shortcomings and mistakes."
Aside from the eight victims who lost their lives as the bridge collapsed, five other victims were injured. Two of them were hospitalized while three endured minor bruises.