Construction and Development Corporation of the Philippines
Construction start
1969
Construction end
1973
Construction cost
US$22 million (₱154 million)
Opened
2 July 1973
Location
The San Juanico Bridge[6] (Filipino: Tulay ng San Juanico; Waray: Tulay han San Juanico) is part of the Pan-Philippine Highway and stretches from Samar to Leyte across the San Juanico Strait in the Philippines.[2] Its longest length is a steel girder viaduct built on reinforced concrete piers, and its main span is of an arch-shaped truss design. Constructed during the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos through Japanese Official Development Assistance loans,[7] it has a total length of 2.16 kilometers (1.34 mi)—the second longest bridge spanning a body of seawater in the Philippines after the Cebu-Cordova Bridge. It was also the longest bridge in the Philippines upon its opening in 1973, surpassed in 1976 by Candaba Viaduct of North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), another bridge that connects from one province to another, connecting the provinces of Pampanga and Bulacan.[8][9]
Marcos built the bridge as a personal gift to his wife Imelda using public funds siphoned through the controversial Marcos Japanese ODA scandal.[8] It was one of the high-visibility foreign-loan projects initiated by Marcos during the run-up to the 1969 presidential election.[10] Completed four years later, it was inaugurated on 2 July 1973 on the birthday of Imelda Marcos.[8] Upon its completion, economists and public works engineers quickly tagged it as a white elephant because its average daily traffic was too low to justify the cost of its construction.
In the years after the Marcos conjugal dictatorship, economic activity in Samar and Leyte has finally caught up with the bridge's intended function under the guidance of several administrations from Corazon Aquino to the present administration, and has become an iconic tourist attraction.
^Cite error: The named reference JICA60thMagazine was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abLandingin, Roel R. (13 February 2008). "7 in 10 ODA Projects Fail to Deliver Touted Benefits". Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism. Archived from the original on 12 October 2009.
^"ASEAN Dialogues: Former Philippines Premier Virata Looks Back on Decades of Working with Japan". Japan International Cooperation Agency. 7 January 2014. Archived from the original on 30 June 2018.
^Cite error: The named reference symbol was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Detailed Bridge Inventory". Department of Public Works and Highways. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
^Meniano, Sarwell (27 July 2019). "Gov't Breaks Ground for San Juanico Bridge Lighting Project". Philippine News Agency. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
^Fifty Years of Japan ODA: A Critical Review for ODA Reform: Reality of Aid Asia-Pacific 2005 Report (Report). Manila: IBON Books. 2005. ISBN 971-0325-52-3.
^ abcSabornido, Lyza R. (17 September 2014). "10 Facts You Should Know about San Juanico Bridge in Samar and Leyte". FAQ.ph. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
^Guia, Jhaypee (13 July 2012). "Go Across the San Juanico Bridge". Vigattin Tourism. Archived from the original on 31 January 2014.
^Ricardo, Manapat (1991). Some Are Smarter Than Others: The History Of Marcos' Crony Capitalism. New York: Aletheia Publications. ISBN 9719128704. OCLC 28428684.
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Global Information
AH 26 (N1) (Maharlika Highway); pedestrian sidewalks