By Rachel Magday
BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya — The deaths of two commuters in a boat capsizing on the Magat River have renewed calls for the construction of a long-awaited bridge connecting remote villages to the provinces’ capital town, Bayombong.
Nueva Vizcaya Rep. Timothy Joseph E. Cayton has urged the national government to fund a feasibility study for a bridge linking Barangay Paitan and Barangay District 4, saying residents have relied on risky river crossings for decades despite bad weather and unpredictable currents.
Cayton raised the proposal during the Department of Agrarian Reform’s budget deliberations in Congress, calling on the agency to allocate funds for the study.
The appeal followed a Sept. 2 incident in which a boat carrying passengers and three tricycles overturned while crossing the Magat River at around 7 a.m. amid strong winds, police said.
Former barangay captain Danilo Degamo, 63, and Anita Batangan died in the incident. Degamo was also an employee of the Bayombong local government’s Traffic Management Office.
Four other passengers were brought to a hospital, while the remaining occupants were rescued, authorities said.
Maj. Anthony Ayungo, chief of the Bayombong police, said the passengers were traveling between Barangays Paitan and District 4 when the boat capsized.
A joint search-and-rescue operation was conducted by the Nueva Vizcaya Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, the Philippine National Police, Bureau of Fire Protection, the municipal disaster offices of Bayombong and Quezon, and the Nueva Vizcaya Emergency Response Team.
One of the victims was recovered in Barangay Maddiangat in neighboring Quezon town, several kilometers downstream from the accident site, after being swept away by strong river currents.
Cayton said residents of Barangays Paitan, Bansing and Magapuy have long depended on boats to reach Bayombong more quickly because no bridge spans the river.
Without a permanent crossing, residents, students, workers, patients, traders and motorists are forced to either take riverboats or travel through longer land routes. The situation leaves communities especially vulnerable when weather conditions worsen.
Department of Agrarian Reform officials said they would assess Cayton’s request and explore the possibility of including the feasibility study in the agency’s budget. Cayton’s office said the congressman had already prepared the necessary documents to help expedite the process.
For residents of the affected villages, the proposed bridge is more than an infrastructure project. It is a long-sought safety measure against a river crossing that has remained both a daily route and a recurring danger for generations.
