VITAL INFRA. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. walks with his cousin, Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez, at the view deck near the iconic San Juanico Bridge on June 11. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., in a podcast aired on Friday (June 20, 2025), said he directed government officials in charge of repairing the San Juanico Bridge to raise its load limit to 12 tons by December or face dismissal from service. (Photo courtesy of Mayor Alfred Romualdez)
MANILA, Philippines – Raise the load limit of the San Juanico Bridge to 12 tons by December or face dismissal from service, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. warned government officials in charge of the bridge’s repair.
“Ang schedule namin, dapat by December, before the end of the year, ang pwede nang gamitin na sasakyan, hanggang 12 tons (Our schedule is that by December, before the end of the year, vehicles weighing up to 12 tons will be allowed entry),” Marcos said in his latest podcast aired on Friday.
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“That’s a test. Kapag hindi niyo natapos iyan, tatanggapin ko ‘yung resignation niyo (If you don’t finish that, I will accept your resignation).”
The President, however, did not name any official who might get axed if the planned load capacity is not met.
He lamented that the San Juanico Bridge, which needs major maintenance every three years, has been neglected in the past few decades.
“May record naman, lahat ng job order, completed. Pero tignan mo, puro kalawang, hindi ginawa. At ‘pag tinanong ko na naman ‘yung mga local, sabi nila hindi namin nakikita ‘yung engineers na nag-aayos diyan. At never namin silang nakita. Ngayon lang sila dumating (There’s a record, all the job orders, completed. But look, it’s all rusty, it was not repaired. And when I asked the locals, they said they don’t see the engineers fixing anything there. They’ve never seen them. They just arrived now),” he said.
Marcos apologized to those affected by the “bad” state of the San Juanico Bridge, assuring them that the government is exhausting all efforts to bring everything back to normal after the rehabilitation of the bridge.
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He said he had directed the Philippine Coast Guard to prioritize the transport of perishable goods while access to the bridge remains limited.
“I’m sorry na nangyari ito. Alam ko ‘yung nararanasan ninyo, nararanasan ng ating mga transport operator, ang nararanasan ng ating mga negosyante kaya’t asahan ninyo na talagang minamadali namin ng maayos kaagad ito (I’m sorry that this happened. I know what you are experiencing, what our transport operators are experiencing, what our business people are experiencing. So please expect that we are really working hard to get this sorted out),” he said. (PNA)