A Negrense heritage advocate aired frustration over the demolition of the 91-year-old Talave Bridge that connects San Carlos City to Calatrava in Negros Occidental and sought clarification from the local government and the National Historical Commission of the Philippines on its preservation.
Heritage advocate Roberto Juan Andoni Valencia said on Wednesday, June 26, that he was surprised that the demolition continued despite the call to preserve the old steel bridge.
Last year, Valencia sent a letter to the NHCP calling on the agency, Department of Works and Public Highways (DPWH), and the local government units to preserve the bridge.
However, Valencia said that the bridge was demolished by the DPWH recently.
In his letter to NHCP on Wednesday, he said that the agency failed to issue a cease-and-desist order against the LGU and DPWH to save the bridge.
“I passed by the area and the steel bridge was already being demolished by the DPWH”, he wrote, adding “I am very much frustrated and disappointed with NHCP for its failure to save the bridge which your department was mandated to do”.
The bridge was built 1933 by the United States Steel Products Company and traversed the river that divides two sugarcane plantations – Hacienda San Vicente of Ledesma Hermanos in San Carlos and Hacienda Refugio of Menchaca Integrated Agricultural Corp. (formerly Menchaca Hermanos) in Calatrava.
With this demolition another piece of history is gone forever due to complacency and inaction, Valencia said.
Meanwhile, the Negros Occidental Historical Council head Solomon Locsin told DIGICAST NEGROS that they have yet to confirm if the bridge had already been demolished.
The Talave bridge is one of the last pre-war steel bridges in the province and presumed an important cultural property under the Republic Act 10066 or the National Cultural Heritage Act, he said.
Locsin said that they need to officially confirm the demolition as it should have clearance from NHCP.
The Negros Occidental Historical Council had recommended its preservation to the NHCP last year along with the Himogaan Bridge in Sagay, he added.*