LUCENA CITY, Quezon—The Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) of Quezon seeks to summon the heads of the two local engineering districts of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) on the alleged destruction of Spanish-era stone-arched bridges in Tayabas City declared as National Cultural Treasures by the National Museum of the Philippines (NMP).
Quezon First District SP Members Claro Talaga Jr. and Aileen Buan both delivered privilege speeches at the SP regular session on Monday, deploring the road- and bridge-widening project being undertaken by District Engineering 1 and 2 of the DPWH, which they said ruined the historical and cultural value of the ancient bridges.
“Ang nagsasagawa po ng proyektong pagpapalawak ng kalsada at mga tulay ay tila walang pagsangguni sa lokal na pamahalaan ng Tayabas at isinasagawa nila ng walang pagsasaalang-alang sa cultural at historical value ng mga naturang sinaunang tulay na tiyak ilang henerasyon na ng ating mga kababayan ang nakinabang,” Buan told her colleagues.
She named the 12 stone-arched bridges constructed during Spanish colonial period and being threatened by the DPWH road- and bridge-widening project as Puente de Prinsesa in Barangay Ibas; Puente de Bae in Barangay Dapdap; Puente Despededas and Puente de Ese in Barangay Camaysa; Puente de Alitao in Barangay San Isidro Zone III, Puente de Malagonlong in Barangay Mateuna/Lakawan; Puente de Lakawan in Barangay Lakawan, Puente de Mate in Barangay Mate; Puente de Isabel II in Barangay Malao-A; and Puente de Urbiztondo in Barangay Malao- A, Puente de Don Francisco de Asis and Puente de Gibanga in Barangay Calumpang. All are found in Tayabas City.
Historical accounts said Puente de Malogonlong is one of the oldest and longest stone-arched bridges found in the province of Quezon. It is 136 meters (446 feet) long built between the years 1840 and 1850 under the direction of the Ministro del Pueblo, Fray Antonio Mattheos, a Franciscan priest. It was the longest bridge ever made during the Spanish colonial era with approximately 100,000 adobe blocks used.
In his own privilege speech, Talaga said the SP has to be a part of the opposition in the destruction of the historical bridges, noting the move by the Tayabas City government, led by Mayor Aida Reynoso, to prevent the structural damage being done by the DPWH through their road- and bridge-widening project.
Talaga said he received a letter from the Quezon Province Heritage Council (QPHC) dated March 26, urging the immediate halt to the ongoing construction of the DPWH contractors to the ancient historical bridges. The same letter was also received by Buan from the QPHC signed by its Chairman Danilo de Luna and President Gil Contreras.
The letter said the QPHC, guided by the provisions and mandates of Republic Act 10066, entitled National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009, has the duty in the preservation of the Spanish Colonial Bridges of Tayabas City threatened by the DPWH bridge-widening projects.
The letter sought the help from SP to include the issue on the agenda of the SP session and to set an inquiry in aid of legislation, stressing that the bridges are National Cultural Treasures “threatened by their ignorance on how to preserve and conserve such tangible heritage and cultural property”.
Members of the Oplan Sagip Tulay (OST), a task force group of Tayabas City government headed by Keissy Palma Rayel, attended the SP session to seek support from the SP members.
Rayel told the BusinessMirror that in their ocular inspection last week in Puente Gibanga, construction workers were already applying cement to the bridge flooring and quoted someone from the DPWH as saying that “it is not an option to stop their road- and bridge-widening project”.
John Valdeavilla, spokesman of the group, said the DPWH has started work on the bridges last week of February and on March 4 they have seen construction workers using jackhammers.
He said some of the parts of the bridges are being chipped and the abutment were removed without the permission of NMP and the National Commission for Culture and Arts.