By Leonardo Micua

NOW that the two lanes of the Dawel Bridge are open for light vehicle traffic after two months of retrofitting, it is comforting to see that personnel of Pangasinan Second Engineering District and POSO of Dagupan are still strictly enforcing the five-tons limit for weight of vehicles crossing it.

The DPWH and Dagupan City government cannot afford to see the Dawel Bridge to end up like the Carlos P. Romulo Bridge in Bayambang, whose Span No. 12 collapsed due to the full weight of two overloaded dump trucks that crossed it on October 20. The drivers ignored the warning signs that the bridge can only accommodate 10 ton vehicles at a time.

If a similar incident happens to the Dawel Bridge, the public surely knows who to blame for failing to safeguard the bridge. Built in 1974 during the early years of martial law, the Dawel Bridge is the only link between Bonuan and the rest of Dagupan, making it as vital as life itself.

Look at the big economic and social dislocation that the collapsed CPR Bridge that connects Bayambang and its neighbor Camiling, Tarlac. It abruptly halted trade and commerce, and yes, inter-travel among their people.

It even exposed students attending in-person classes at the Pangasinan State University to added risks by crossing the Agno River back and forth on small boats.

We heard the Marcos administration is prioritizing the repair and rehabilitation of the collapsed portion of the Carlos P. Romulo Bridge because it provides the shortest route to-and-fro Pangasinan-Manila without passing through TPLEX.

But the DPWH can only build a temporary bailey bridge for now. Bailey panels and other materials have already started to arrive in Bayambang, making  Mayor Nina Jose Quiambao confident that the construction of the bailey bridge will start soon.

In Dagupan, Mayor Belen Fernandez is prioritizing Dawel Bridge’s protection to make the One Bonuan accessible at all times. The city cannot afford the three Bonuans to be isolated at any time.

After she felt a magnitude 3 temblor on the night before she delivered her First 100 Days Report to the people of Dagupan, she directed the CDRRMO to immediately coordinate with the Second Pangasinan Engineering District to conduct a joint inspection on all public infrastructures, particularly the Dawel Bridge, to find out if they sustained any damage.

She and all Dagupenos were relieved when the CDRRMO and DPWH cleared all public infrastructures of any damage. After all, the damaged PAGCOR building at DCNHS and buildings of three other schools damaged by July 27 quake have already been declared unfit for use.

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Curiously, I did not hear any mention of the three-storey One-Stop Shop Building being built in front of the Old Dagupan City Hall in the First 100 Days report of Mayor Belen Fernandez.

But a week earlier, she was heard in the program of Ms. Lena Cervantes over DWPR that the construction of the building may have violated a provision of the national heritage law because it hides the old city hall from public view. Built in 1925, it is already an official heritage site, being the oldest functioning city hall throughout the country.

The old city hall was built when the mayor of Dagupan was Guillermo de Venecia, grandfather of former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. At that time, Dagupan was still a town in Pangasinan and during the war years, according to the late historian Restituto Basa, the capital of Pangasinan was temporarily relocated to Dagupan. 

It was the officials of the National Heritage Commission of the Philippines who called on Mayor Belen at city hall and saw for themselves the violation of the national heritage law on seeing the construction of a three-storey building in front of a declared heritage site.

Hinting that that the past city administration did not coordinate with the NHCP before embarking on the construction of the new building, she now expects more legal troubles to surface if the contractor continues to demolish the remaining wings of the city hall to implement the plans it signed with the past city administration. This considering the construction to cost the city government more than P150 million in over three years. Worse, the old city hall will be virtually reduced to a mere bungalow if  the flooring of the new building is raised by two meters beyond the normal flood level.

 If that happens, it would be an insult to Dagupan’s historic past. 

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