MANILA — Malacañang on Wednesday promised accountability for the collapse last week of a bridge in Isabela province last week as the Palace launched a deeper probe into the incident.

A section of the P1.2-billion Cabagan-Sta Maria Bridge collapsed last week, fueling speculations that the project was riddledwith corruption.

Isabela bridge ‘overstressed’ before collapse: DPWH

“Ito ay nag-start noong 2014 at lumalabas po na 90% ay naisagawa ito sa panahon po ni dating Pangulong Duterte,” Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said in a Palace briefing.

(This project began in 2014 and it appears 90% of the work was done during the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte)

Castro said that the bridge had been affected by earthquakes and had to be retrofitted in 2023.

"Ang nakikita po so far ay nagkaroon ng under-design; lumalabas din po sa imbestigasyon na ito po talaga ay para sa mga light vehicles ayon doon sa disenyo," she said.

(What we are seeing so far is that there was some under-design. It is also coming out in the investigation that this was really designed for light vehicles)

She said that the bridge could not withstand the weight of three heavy-laden dump trucks carrying boulders.

She added the owner of the dump trucks may also be held liable for the bridge collapse.

Collapsed Cabagan-Santa Maria bridge just opened Feb 2025, cost P1.2-B - DPWH

“[A]ng sabi nga po ay hindi lamang po ang nakaraang administrasyon ang puwedeng panagutin dito — lahat po, hanggang sa ngayon kung sino po ang maaaring maging may liability dito, kung mayroon man, lahat po iyan ay dapat managot,” she said.

(What we are saying is that liability might not only be on people from the past administration. Everyone, even the current officials, could be found liable here.)