Collapse of bridge affects delivery of products Marrah Erika Lesaba Philippine Daily Inquirer
November 05, 2009
BATANGAS CITY, Batangas, Philippines—The collapse of a bridge here at the height of typhoon “Santi” last October 31, which left a father and son dead, has affected the delivery of important commodities to the neighboring provinces and Metro Manila, second district Representative Hermilando Mandanas said in a phone interview Wednesday.
Affected products were LPG, plane fuel, plastic resin, cement, flour and other grains.
In a report to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Mandanas said the collapse of the Bridge of Promise had affected 70 percent of the LPG supply from Shell Philippines located in the village of Tabangao here to the company's dealers in the entire country.
Based on a report of the Department of Energy, Mandanas said 70 percent of the LPG provided by Shell to Metro Manila and most parts of Luzon were affected, transport-wise.
Cargo trucks using the Taysan road will have to travel an additional 20 kilometers than the normal route passing the Bridge of Promise.
The delivery trucks from Tabangao had to use the Taysan bridge, which worried Mandanas because, he said, he found out that the bridge was weak.
He added that the Philippine Airlines' fuel tank farm in Barangay Pinamucan here had also been affected, involving the flow of 30 percent of fuel supplied to the entire country.
In an interview with Jonathan Diaz, superintendent for the operation of the JG Summit Petrochem, he said 5 percent of plastic resin usually went to its sister company, the URC-BOPP, 90 percent for local use, and the remaining 3-5 percent, for export.
JG Summit's is the only petrochemical plant operating in the Philippines and is producing plastic for all types and usages.
The company has been much affected by the collapse of bridge in terms of transport, Diaz added.
Mandanas added that 30 percent of the cement meant to be delivered to Metro Manila was also hampered because two cement plants, Cemex and Fortune, are located in Barangay Tabangao and in Taysan town, respectively.
He said San Miguel/Purefoods, also located in Tabangao, could not deliver flour and other grains in different parts of the country.
Half of the people of the 2nd district of Batangas -- which includes Batangas City and the towns of San Jose, San Pascual, San Luis, Bauan and Lobo -- are almost immobilized.
A father and his son died, when their car fell with the bridge, Mandanas lamented. (The man’s wife survived.)
According to Engineer Winifredo Olores, 2nd Engineering District officer in charge, the debris brought by the strong current of the Calumbang river at the height of typhoon “Santi,” which hit the center post of the bridge, caused it to collapse.
Olores added that the national bridge, with a length of 104 meters, was already 45 years old and was done under the Marcos administration.
“In our assessment, the replacement of the whole bridge will cost P146 million and the construction will start in December,” Olores said.
Work for the bridge's detailed engineering will start Thursday, and will last for six to eight weeks, according to Olores.
The project for the replacement of bridge was an initiative of Mandanas, Olores said.
“All heavy vehicles from Lobo town or from villages (that were cut off by the floods) and are bound for Batangas City should take the Ibaan road and exit at the San Jose town Star tollway while the light vehicles can use the Calumpang Bridge here,” he said.
Mandanas said he was working on the inclusion of the cost of reconstruction of the bridge in the P12 billion rehabilitation fund, which Congress has just passed.
