TANGUB CITY, Misamis Occidental (PIA) — To address emerging issues following the opening of the Panguil Bay Bridge, the Regional Development Council (RDC)-10 passed a resolution during its 140th full council meeting on November 28, requesting the Office of the President to create the Panguil Bay Bridge Management Council (PBBMC) to oversee, maintain, and regulate the bridge’s usage.
Following the official inauguration of the 3.17-kilometer Panguil Bay Bridge by President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. on September 27, which signaled its opening to motorists, a number of issues have emerged. These include the indiscriminate disposal of garbage in the sea, the practice of taking pictures in the middle of the bridge, which has hampered road traffic, the emergence of ambulant vendors selling their wares on the sidewalk, and the creation of content by vloggers for their social media platforms.
A staff member of the Asenso Global Gardens, a tourist spot in Barangay Hoyohoy in this city, told the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) that before the opening of the Panguil Bay Bridge, its guests would only average 50–100 per day. She reported that a day after the bridge opened to travelers, the number of guests exceeded 2,000.
Marcos said the bridge could bring positive impacts on Mindanao’s economic and tourism activities, notwithstanding the improvement in travel time between Tangub City in Misamis Occidental and Tubod town in Lanao del Norte from two hours before to seven minutes now.
The Government of the Philippines and the Korean Export-Import Bank-Economic Development Cooperation Fund (KED CF) signed a loan agreement in 2016 for this P8.026-billion bridge project, which started with a feasibility study in 1998 and received approval from the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Board in May 2015.
Recognizing RDC-10 efforts
For his part, Misamis Occidental Gov. Henry S. Oaminal thanked the members of RDC-10 for their unwavering support, which enabled the province to advance its projects in infrastructure, education, and healthcare. “True success is never achieved by one person alone; it is a product of collaboration,” he said.
As his rejoinder, Engr. Elpedio Paras, one of RDC-10’s private sector representatives, lauded the efforts of Governor Oaminal in bringing progress to the province, saying, “Nakita nako ang kalambuan sa probinsya ug dako kaayo ang pag-asenso (I’ve seen the improvement of the province, and it brought so much development).
As the chairperson of the RDC-10, Lanao del Norte Gov. Imelda Quibranza-Dimaporo also expressed her gratitude to all the council members and the NEDA-10 secretariat for their strong support.
The 140th RDC-10 full council meeting was able to pass and approve 26 resolutions, of which 23 were action resolutions, or the ones requiring actions and applications by concerned agencies or offices. (FPG/PIA-10)
