Marjuice Destinado
 
“THANK YOU TATAY DIGONG FOR YOUR ANOTHER LEGACY! THE BEST KA, DU30 4EVER!” “Big Thanks to PBBM for this. Your Leadership is truly great!”
 
On September 27, 2024, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. inaugurated the Panguil Bay Bridge, Mindanao's longest sea-crossing bridge at 3.17 kilometers, reducing travel time from over two hours to just seven minutes for approximately 10,000 daily travelers. The event sparked mixed online reactions, with many attributing credit to both former President Duterte and Marcos. 


CLAIM: The Panguil Bay Bridge is a legacy of former President Rodrigo Duterte and an achievement of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.
 
RATING: MISLEADING
 
CONCLUSION: The Panguil Bay Bridge project was not initiated during the Duterte administration nor is it solely an achievement of the Marcos administration. The project was actually conceptualized and approved during the administration of the late President Benigno Aquino III.


Last June 2, 2022, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) announced that the Panguil Bay Bridge is “listed among the 119 infrastructure flagship projects under the ‘Build, Build, Build’ program.” Recently, President Marcos posted photos from the inauguration on his Facebook page, boasting in the caption, “By 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲, we are not only constructing bridges of steel but creating bridges of opportunity for every Filipino.” This claim attempts to connect his new infrastructure modernization initiative to the credit for the bridge, but both assertions are misleading.
 
The idea for the Panguil Bay Bridge dates back to 1998, with initial feasibility studies conducted to assess its viability. In October 2014, the Project Evaluation Report (PER) was presented to the Investment Coordination Committee-Technical Board (ICC-TB), which endorsed the project for approval. The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board officially approved the project in 2015.
 
The project gained further momentum when a loan agreement was signed on April 28, 2016, under the administration of the late President Benigno Aquino III. It was during Aquino’s tenure that the Philippine government secured funding from the Export-Import Bank of Korea - Economic Development Cooperation Fund (KEXIM-EDCF). The groundbreaking ceremony occurred in November 2018, and construction officially started on February 28, 2020.