TANGUB, Misamis Occidental — President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. graced the inauguration of the Panguil Bay Bridge here on Friday. 

The Panguil Bay Bridge, connecting Tangub City in Misamis Occidental and Tubod Municipality in Lanao del Norte, is considered the longest sea-crossing bridge in Mindanao.

The construction of the Tubod-Tangub bridge reduced 2.5 hours of travel time to only seven minutes. 

The bridge is expected to facilitate 24/7 mobility of people, goods, and services, propelling economic growth in the surrounding areas in the Northern Mindanao region.

Also, the 3.17-kilometer two-lane bridge is expected to improve the transport systems, linking the region’s coastal areas.

The project is funded through a loan agreement between the Philippine government and the Korean Export-Import Bank (Korea Eximbank).

In his speech, Marcos mentioned the government's struggles since the pre-feasibility study for the project was initiated in 1998.

“From the 1998 pre-feasibility study conducted on the bridge to the moment that we broke ground in 2018, this bridge encountered very many challenges.

At the height of the pandemic, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) had to recalibrate the plans for the construction of the bridge project. 

“We do not get intimidated or discouraged by obstacles that are put in our way. We worked harder, pushed harder, [and] never lost sight of why we are building this bridge,” he said. 

Marcos said there are 21 ongoing big-ticket projects under the Economic Development Cooperation Fund of Korea. 

“[This] part of all our development programs and all our aspirations for making our people live in a much safer, much more efficient, and much more helpful lifestyle,” he added.