By CESAR JOLITO III
The Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas has ordered an investigation into complaints filed against an official of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) over the controversial demolition of the 92-year-old Talave Bridge in Negros Occidental’s Calatrava town.
The move comes after heritage advocate Jose Roberto Andoni Valencia in Bacolod City lodged complaints on August 15, accusing DPWH Assistant Secretary Nerie Bueno of grave abuse of discretion and betrayal of public trust.
The DPWH, under Bueno’s authority, had approved the demolition alongside the construction of a new concrete bridge.
The nearly century-old Talave Bridge, built in 1933, has been recognized as a cultural property under the National Cultural Heritage Act.
In a letter dated September 5, which was made public this week, the Ombudsman’s Case Records Evaluation Monitoring and Enforcement Bureau informed Valencia that the complaints had been officially docketed with the approval of Acting Ombudsman Dante Vargas, deputy ombudsman for the Visayas.
The complaints will be assigned to an investigating officer.
The Talave Bridge, once a vital link between San Carlos City’s Barangay Punao and Calatrava’s Barangay Refugio, was demolished despite a cease-and-desist order issued by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP).
Valencia, who leads the advocacy group The Juan Calatrava Movement, said the demolition disregarded heritage laws requiring NHCP clearance for structures over 50 years old.
“The NHCP’s authority was ignored, and a piece of our national heritage was destroyed without due process. This is not just negligence — it is a betrayal of public trust,” Valencia said.
Advocates are now calling for its reconstruction in its original form and for stricter enforcement of heritage protection laws.
The Talave Bridge, built by the United States Steel Products Company, was not only a vital infrastructure for northern Negros but also a symbol of pre-war engineering and economic history, serving as a major transport route for sugar during the American colonial period.
Warned
In its cease-and-desist order dated July 16, 2024, the NHCP warned against the demolition of the Talave Bridge.
“We respectfully remind your office that the petition to remove the presumption of the Talave Bridge as an [important cultural property] has not yet been decided upon. Thus, no activities within the subject property should be undertaken,” NCHP Chairman Regalado Trota Jose, Jr. said in his letter addressed to San Carlos City Mayor Renato Gustilo.
Earlier, DPWH in Western Visayas Regional Director Engineer Sanny Boy Oropel said the NHCP acted too late, as the demolition, which started in August 2023, was completed in June this year.
Oropel also cited resolutions from the San Carlos City local government unit that sought the bridge’s demolition due to safety concerns due to frequent flooding at the Talave River.
“DPWH only acted upon the request of the San Carlos local government for the immediate demolition of the dilapidated Talave Bridge, presuming that it posed dangers to motorists and passersby,” Oropel said.
Meanwhile, Joe Recalix Alingasa, officer of the San Carlos City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management, said the final decision to demolish the bridge rested with the DPWH despite the resolutions from the city government.
Alingasa said the local government unit could still work for the demolished bridge’s restoration through NHCP’s “adaptive reuse program.”
According to him, Gustilo has already set aside a space at the San Carlos People’s Park for a restored Talave Bridge. / With reports from Rappler / CJ, WDJ