At Friday's inauguration of the P8.3-billion Panguil Bay Bridge project, which connects Tangub City in Misamis Occidental and Tubod Municipality in Lanao del Norte, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said that the project reflected the Philippines's collective strength and will to deliver key infrastructure projects, even in the face of adversity.

“From the 1998 pre-feasibility study conducted on the bridge to the moment it broke ground in 2018, this bridge encountered very many challenges,” the President said as he led the bridge's launch.

“When the pandemic hit—the DPWH had to pause, and had to recalibrate, and revisit, and create techniques and strategies on how they could move forward with this project. And just when they thought they could continue the construction of the bridge, funding issues stopped it again and slowed it down again. Pero hindi tayo nagpapatinag nang basta-basta,” he added.

President Marcos also noted that getting from Tangub to Tubod would now take a mere seven minutes, down from two hours before the construction of the bridge.

Panguil Bay Bridge is the longest sea-crossing in Mindanao.