Malacañang has revealed that a possible underdesign might have caused the Cabagan-Santa Maria Bridge in Isabela to collapse.
Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Undersecretary Claire Castro disclosed that the government is now looking into the possibility of the bridge being underdesigned as a cause of its fall.
"Sa nakikita po so far ay nagkaroon ng underdesign (What is seen so far is that there has been an underdesign)," Castro said in a Palace briefing on Wednesday, March 5.
The Palace press officer said determining whether it was the real culprit of the incident will be part of the more intensive investigation of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
"[T]itingnan talaga yung sinasabing underdesigned, anong naging cause bakit hindi kakayanin yung mga heavy vehicles, e lumalabas nga po sa initial investigation ayon sa design, e pang light vehicles lang siya. Ayon po sa initial investigation (They will looked into the possibility of it being underdesigned, what was the cause why it cannot handle heavy vehicles, because the initial investigation showed that it was only intended for light vehicles. That's the initial investigation)," Castro said.
The Palace official also said that although nothing is final yet, the companies which own the trucks that passed through the bridge might also be held liable, aside from the individuals involved in the implementation of the project, which was completed this year.
However, the companies are not the only ones liable over the bridge collapse, Castro said.
Those individuals from the previous administration to present could also be held liable.
"Kaya po isa sa mga sinasabi ni Secretary Bonoan ay maaari po, hindi po natin 'to, hindi pa po ito conclusion: maaari lamang po na mapanagot din yung may ari o korporasyon na may-ari ng dump trucks, dahil tatlo po ang nasabi na dumaan na sunud-sunod (According to DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan, this is not the conclusion yet but he said the owners or the corporations of the dump trucks will be held liable)," she said.
"So yun pa lang po ang initial investigation but ang sabi nga po hindi lamang po ang nakaaraang administrasyon ang pwedeng panagutin dito, lahat po hanggang sa ngayon kung sino po ang may liability dito kung meron man, lahat po yan ay pwedeng managot (So, that's the initial investigation but it is not only the previous administration that would be held liable, but also all those involved up to now), she added.
The construction of the bridge started in November 2014 and was completed over 10 years later on Feb. 1, 2025, with a total cost of P1,225,537,087.92.
According to Castro, 90 percent of its construction was implemented by the DPWH under the term of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
The bridge is 990 meters long and consists of 12 arches with a span of 60 meters each and nine spans of Pre-Stressed Concrete Girder (PSCG) Type IVB. The total length of the approaches is 664.10 linear meters.