The First Highway Engineering District of the Department of Public Works and Highways thru District Engineer Francis Antonio Flores yesterday dismissed insinuations that the temporary Abatan Bridge is costing taxpayers money to the tune of P200 million. The DPWH official reacted immediately to a press statement of lawyer Victor de la Serna and mediaman Fred Amora that the bridge connecting this city and the rest of western and northern towns has a reconstruction cost of P 200 million although it is still temporary. What apparently boggled the minds of the two concerned citizens is a billboard indicating the price tag of P200 million as cost of temporary bridge. In an e-mail to The Post, Engr. Flores said the amount of P201 million is the estimated cost of the rehabilitation/reconstruction/replacement/retrofitting of five existing damage permanent bridges. They are Desamparados Bridge in Calape, Bohol (P18 million); Tultugan Bridge in Calape, Bohol, (P15 million); Abatan Bridge in Maribojoc, Bohol (P100 million); Tagbuane Bridge in Alburquerque, Bohol (P25 million); and Moalong Bridge in Loon, Bohol (P43 million).

In their press statement, de la Serna and Amora were conclusive in their accusation that any engineer or contractor will immediately tell you that a bailey bridge would only cost a maximum of P150,00 per meter, or in this case, P15 million for a 100 meter span. Describing the steel bridge as sitting on top of the span of the old concrete bridge which fell to the water, the two said this bailey bridge sits on the foundation of the old concrete bridge which remained undamaged and structurally safe. In denouncing the alleged overprice of the temporary bridge, the pair said the DPWH has the gall to proclaim to the whole world that it cost them the huge amount of P200 million. Reacting to the price tag of P200 million, they quoted an unidentified resident as saying the only way for this 100-meter bailey bridge to arrive at this cost is if the steel beams used by DPWH is gold-plated.

In the same reaction, Engr. Flores of the DPWH said the reflected cost of the five Bohol bridges, which were damaged at the height of the 7.2 magnitude earthquake, was based on standard estimate adopted by DPWH at P1 million per linear meter of a bridge. He said this information (estimated value of all five temporary bridges) was posted not the actual value of the five bridges which include all steel bridge components and its mobilizations and demobilizations. Engr. Flores added that all bridge components in the installation of the five temporary bridges were supplied by the DPWH Unified Project Management Office—Bridge Management Cluster, coming from the depots in Cagayan de Oro and Aklan. He added that his office only implemented the labor and equipment in the installation of the five bridges as well as its bridge approaches.