NEWS

By Benise Balaoing | ABS-CBN News | July 28, 2025

(PHOTO: ABS CBN NEWS)

MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the construction of the Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge will start before the end of the year.

In his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA), Marcos said the bridge will help cut travel time between Mariveles in Bataan and Naic in Cavite.

“Kung ang biyahe ngayon mula Mariveles hanggang Naic ay umaabot ng limang oras, balang araw ito ay magiging 45 minuto na lamang,” he said.

Construction of the more than 32-kilometer bridge was initially expected to begin in the latter part of 2023, but was postponed to early or mid-2024. The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said it was still finalizing financing arrangements with the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The ADB approved funding of up to $2.1 billion in December 2023. In July 2024, a DPWH official said the start of construction has been moved to early or mid-2025.

Once completed, the Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge would become the longest bridge in the country–longer than the 8.9-kilometer Cebu-Cordova Bridge and the 2.1-kilometer San Juanico Bridge.

Hits collapsed Isabela bridge

Marcos also said his administration will not tolerate corruption in the construction of infrastructure projects. He cited as an example the the Cabagan-Santa Maria Bridge in Isabela, a portion of which collapsed In February this year.

Construction of the bridge, which cost P1.225 billion, was only completed on February 1, 2025 after starting in November 2014.

“Ang mahal. Ang tagal ginawa. Ang bilis nasira,” Marcos said of the project.

The president also noted how government officials seem to have neglected the maintenance of the San Juanico Bridge, which was built during his late father’s administration.

The DPWH has imposed a strict 3-ton maximum axle load limit on all vehicles passing the bridge after the government noted that some of its segments had structural vulnerabilities.

“Ang mga proyekto, tama dapat ang disenyo. Mataas dapat ang kalidad. Natatapos dapat sa takdang oras, at naalagaan atnamementinang mabuti,” he said.

Marcos has declared a state of calamity in Eastern Visayas for a year to hasten the repair and rehabilitation of the San Juanico Bridge and mitigate the impact on residents of Samar and Leyte.

He has set a December deadline for the reopening of the iconic bridge.

The 2.16-kilometer San Juanico Bridge is the only permanent land link between the islands of Samar and Leyte and a key component of the Pan-Philippine Highway which connects Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

The bridge is a major passageway for the movement of goods and people. A business group has said that some local establishments recorded losses as high as 30 percent a week into the bridge’s closure to heavy vehicles.

Source: ABS CBN News