A non-government organization, Juan Calatrava Movement, is calling for a Senate investigation into the demolition of the 91-year-old Talave Bridge that was located between San Carlos City and Calatrava, Negros Occidental, its chairman Andoni Llantada Valencia said on Monday, August 5.
The group submitted a formal complaint to the office of Sen. Lorna Legarda, seeking the Senate investigation in aid of legislation.
The group, it its letter, said the bridge was named as an important cultural property (ICP) by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), which should have been preserved.
The bridge was constructed in 1933 by the United States Steel Products Company during the American colonial period.
The NCHP issued a cease-and-desist order addressed to San Carlos Mayor Renato Gustilo and the Department of Public Works and Highways 6 to halt the demolition of the bridge on July 16, the group pointed out.
When the NCHP issued the order, Talave Bridge was already dismantled, the group said.
“The Talave Bridge was supposed to give us a glimpse of how Negrenses lived before World War II, and how this story can inspire the next generation by physically seeing the iron bridge in its current location”, the group said.*