The iconic San Juanico Bridge is now open to two-way traffic after several months of repair work.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. assured the people of Samar and Leyte of the bridge’s complete rehabilitation after it was opened Friday to two-way traffic under a 15-ton load limit.

During an inspection of the San Juanico Bridge in Tacloban City, President Marcos said the full repair will be finished next year, and at the same time emphasized the need to ensure proper maintenance of vital infrastructure to avoid socio-economic disruption to affected communities.

“I’m very happy that I’m able to say now, it is very close to our deadline. And so, the San Juanico Bridge is partially finished. It will be finished next year so that the bridge will be able to take again the load of 33 tons going both ways,” the President said.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has announced the completion of the bridge’s portal shoring works which provide temporary support to the existing structure in order for the retrofitting to proceed safely and without adding strain on the bridge.

The DPWH said San Juanico Bridge can now safely carry two-way traffic under a controlled 15-ton load limit, allowing motorists to continue using the bridge while the permanent strengthening works are being carried out.

Last June, the Chief Executive visited the San Juanico Bridge and Amandayehan Port in Basey, Samar to oversee government response efforts to the emergency closure of the bridge, which has disrupted transportation and trade across Eastern Visayas.

During that visit, the President directed the DPWH to increase the load limit to 12 metric tons before the end of December and underscored the need to expedite the rehabilitation timeline for the vital link between Samar and Leyte.

President Marcos had said that San Juanico Bridge’s shutdown was necessary to ensure public safety after a structural inspection uncovered severe damage in the unseen parts of the bridge due to decades of neglect.

“I hope that this serves as a lesson to all future administrators in government, to all government workers who have anything to do with this. The retrofit costs us PhP1.1 billion. That is money that we could have saved if proper maintenance was carried out on San Juanico,” President Marcos said on Friday.

The President said the DPWH’s annual budget for maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) should have covered the regular maintenance of San Juanico Bridge and other important infrastructure.

“Kaya again, I hope that this is a lesson to us and of all of those in the future whose responsibility will be to look after our thoroughfares, to always remember the experience of San Juanico Bridge that if we had only maintained it, we would have saved a great deal of problems,” the President said.

Constructed in 1969 and opened in July 1973, the 2.15 kilometers San Juanico Bridge remains a critical lifeline for Eastern Visayas, serving as a vital corridor for families, commerce, and regional development. | PND