04/12/2025
THE REAL LEGACY BEHIND THE BUCANA BRIDGE
In April 2018, the world watched as then Davao City Mayor Inday Sara Duterte stood beside global leaders during President Rodrigo “Rody” Roa Duterte’s working visit to the People’s Republic of China. It was a moment that placed Davao City on the international stage. 🌍
During the Boao Forum for Asia, President Duterte spoke with conviction about forging partnerships between home-grown and foreign-based companies—alliances that could uplift Filipino lives. That same visit, he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and witnessed six major agreements being signed—milestones intended to power the Philippines’ infrastructure dreams.
Barely six months later, in her October 2018 State of the City Address, Mayor Sara announced a breakthrough:
China would help build the PHP 1.5-billion Davao River Bridge Bucana project, a key piece of President Duterte’s infrastructure vision.
She described an 800-meter bridge that would connect the coastal road network from Times Beach to Roxas Avenue—eventually becoming part of the Davao High Standard Highway Network, together with the Bypass Road, Expressway, and Coastal Road.
It was ambitious. It was bold. It was Davao’s future taking shape.
Fast-forward to today.
President Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr. steps onto the newly completed Bucana Bridge and proudly declares:
“This is one of the four major projects that we – our legacy projects – will be finishing in Davao.”
We? Legacy… for whom?
Yes—many Davaoeños can’t help but ask :
- Is this not a clear case of credit-grabbing?
- How can something initiated, signed, funded, and announced under a previous administration suddenly become “our legacy”?
- Does inspecting a finished bridge now rewrite history?
Infrastructure is supposed to be a legacy for the people—not a photo-op inheritance for those who happened to cut the ribbon.
The Bucana Bridge stands today not because of political revisionism, but because plans take time, diplomacy takes work, and genuine vision takes years to unfold.
And the people of Davao know exactly whose vision this bridge came from. 👊💚