Mayor Ayuban says Clarin Bridge incident is a “tragedy”
Loay mayor Hilario Ayuban called the incident where the old Clarin bridge collapsed as a “tragedy”.
The Bohol Tribune was able to get a short statement from the mayor at 9.23 this evening after repeated calls since this afternoon.
“It is very tragic nga nahitabo sa Loay. Dili lang sa Loay kay nahitabo lang sa Loay, daghang casualty ug survivors nga dili taga Loay from all over the province na. Naa gani mga foreigner. Sad event today,” he told The Bohol Tribune.
The mayor said that the project is under the Department of Public Works and Highways, meaning it is a national government undertaking.
Ayuban said that the old bridge collapsed at around 4:18 p.m. and confirmed that there are 4 fatalities and 20 survivors.
He said that it is the DPWH which allowed the traffic to flow through the old bridge. A new one is being constructed a adjacent to the new one.
As of 9 p.m. authorities are still conducting retrieval operations. Ayuban hopes that there would be no additional casualties.
The Bohol Tribune asked the mayor of the possible reason for the bridge’s collapse.
“Tingali [ang] kadugayon sa bridge ug
overloading sa capacity sa mga sakyanan nga anaa sa bridge,” Ayuban explained.
The Bohol Tribune then inquired from the mayor who could possibly be liable for this tragedy, he said: ” [It is] too early to say. Dili akoy naa katungod or position to say [who is liable]. Let the investigation, kun unsay mo come up sa investigation.”
The mayor said that at least 10 vehicles were involved in the incident.
He indicated that large vehicles are advised to take an alternate route, which passes through Sikatuna town, to avoid passing by the old bridge.
Meanwhile, the munciipality of Panglao, under the leadership of Mayor Leonila Montero and Coun. Amira Alia Montero-Caindec, was one of the FIRST TOWNS who
dispatched the members of its Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Reef Rangers known as the MENRO Boys to help in the rescue efforts after Loay’s
old Clarin bridge collapsed in the afternoon of Apr. 27, 2022.
This was confirmed by Chandymar Batoy, the executive
assistant to the Mayor for communications of the local government unit of Panglao, in an interview over Open Forum program.
He said that personnel from the Bureau of
Fire Protection of Panglao are also deployed for the rescue operation.
As this developed, Montero
urged members of the Panglao Association of Dive Operators to help in the rescue operations on Loay’s
Clarin bridge collapse.