Ang Dabawenyo

Recently, I invited my good friends Christian Te and Chattee Lara to a photo shoot of the newly-constructed Governor Generoso Bridge I (more popularly known as Bankerohan Bridge). The two were game for it, and we braved the traffic on the bridge last night.

Both are avid photobugs, and are members of the Fanatic Photographers Society, a very progressive camera club here in Davao. Naturally, they brought with them their Nikon DSLRs (a D80 for Christian and a D40 for Chattee) and an assortment of lenses and accessories. I brought my own point-and-shoot digicam… but it was only for composing shots.

We were on, around and above the bridge for about an hour, from before 8pm to almost 9pm. Too bad none of us had the guts to go under the bridge!

Speaking of guts, Chattee answered my dare to stand in the middle of the road to take pictures of the bridge head-on. I stood behind her, directing oncoming traffic, while Christian took photos of us making a scene.

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Finally, after a year and a couple of months, the new Bankerohan Bridge is open to serve the riding public. Just in time for school opening!

I’m going to try and post some photos of the new bridge. It’s a completely new structure, which was built in a span of 3 or 4 months, if I’m not mistaken.

The bridge was inaugurated in simple rites early this morning, and now, the flow of traffic feels so… heavenly! No more bottlenecks in the Bankerohan and Matina ramps — for now. Read more »

It’s been more than 6 months since Bankerohan Bridge (Gov. Generoso I) fell to ruin… yet today there’s not even a single pile driven to the ground for the new bridge. It’s as if the national government has no plans at all of restoring this vital infrastructure.

The Department of Public Works & Highways-Region 11 laments that there simply isn’t any money earmarked for the bridge. Wow… after half a year, still no action? It’s not a question of money. It’s a question of political will. Or the lack of it. Read more »