FIRING LINE: Tired of writing about bridges

FIRING LINE: Tired of writing about bridges

By Robert B. Roque Jr | September 3, 2026

How many times have we heard of collapsing bridges in the country? Apparently, not too rarely. This time, the setting is in Tarlac, and we’re talking not just of one bridge, but two, in a single deadly night.

In a span of roughly 20 hours on August 28-29, 2026, habagat rains and a swollen Tarlac River tore down the Ninoy Aquino Bridge, then the Agana Bridge, cutting Tarlac City off from much of the province.

A gray Toyota Avanza was crossing Agana as it gave way, plunging six people into the river. Only one survived. The bodies of James Patrick Taborlupa and a still-unnamed female passenger have since washed up in Pangasinan towns — Dagupan and Bayambang — kilometers downstream. Two more remain missing, as PNP, military, and disaster teams comb the water.

Only one mercy softened this tragedy: authorities had the sense to close the bridges before full collapse, sparing what could have been a far deadlier toll. Small comfort, though, when a province is forced into a State of Calamity, crops are ruined, and a 30-minute commute now eats up two hours through Gerona.

Having seen this happen twice in under a day proves that falling bridges in the Philippines are not a fluke, but more of an indictment of public infrastructure. It echoes what we’ve flagged before: Cabagan-Sta. Maria, Piggatan, Kaliwet — bridge after bridge, region after region, always the same script of overloading, neglect, and institutional shrugging, dressed up afterward as “structural fatigue.”

But what brought down the Ninoy Aquino Bridge?

The Tarlac River does not need a dam to become dangerous. Its waters are fed by watersheds and mountain channels descending from the Zambales Mountain Range. After days of heavy southwest monsoon rains, the river swelled, and its current intensified, raising immediate questions about scouring — the washing away of soil and sediment around bridge piers and foundations.

But strong currents alone do not prove they caused the collapse.

The Department of Public Works and Highways and local authorities have yet to establish the exact cause. Was it river scouring? Damage to the foundation? Decades of structural wear? Previous repairs? The age of the bridge? Or a combination of factors?

There are also questions about possible quarrying activities along the Tarlac River and whether changes to the riverbed may have contributed to erosion and weakened the bridge’s foundations. But that connection, too, remains unproven and should be established — or dismissed — by a proper technical investigation.

The Ninoy Aquino Bridge, a major crossing on the Romulo Highway linking western Tarlac City with the central Poblacion area, was built decades ago. A historical account from the Tarlac provincial government puts its construction in 1988, although that date still needs confirmation from the DPWH.

DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon has since rushed a Bailey bridge over the Agana gap — fine, necessary, but a band-aid, not a cure. The permanent question is whether government has been doing enough to assess how aging bridges will withstand increasingly extreme weather and powerful river flows.

Two bridges giving way in roughly a day should not be dismissed as an unfortunate coincidence of bad weather.

So, many like me ask: what now? Will DPWH move at Bailey-bridge speed on permanent repairs, or at ghost-project speed on accountability?

Tarlac’s businesses, farmers, and commuters cannot wait years for an answer. Government must act now — to redesign, reinforce, inspect and investigate, before the next headline is about another bridge falling.

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