San Juanico Bridge. RYAN LEAGOGO/INQUIRER.net
TACLOBAN CITY — Expect the San Juanico Bridge to be a night-time attraction, too.
The Department of Tourism (DOT), through its Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), has awarded a Manila-based company the work to install lights and sounds at the popular bridge.
The work, to be undertaken by Amigo Entertainment and Technologies Inc., is expected to start after the May 13 midterm elections.
Brett de los Santos, Samar provincial investment and trade promotions officer, said the lights and sounds project will make the 2.6-kilometer San Juanico Bridge not just a day-time attraction but also as a night-time attraction.
“While San Juanico Bridge is already known as a day-time attraction, we hope that with the installation of lights and sounds, this make it also as a night-time attraction,” De Los Santos said in a phone interview.
De Los Santos said the contractor was given 180 days to complete the project.
“But we hope that they can finish the project before this year’s anniversary of super typhoon Yolanda on November 13,” he said.
According to him, the lights and sounds work has a total budget of P80 million, which will be funded by TIEZA.
The provincial government has also contributed P34.7 million for a road opening leading to a proposed view deck located in Sta. Rita town, Samar, and for the power supply needed during the installation of materials.
The installation of lights and sounds at the San Juanico Bridge, considered to be one of the longest bridges in Asia and constructed during the time of former President Ferdinand Marcos, was envisioned by Samar Gov. Sharee Ann Tan.
Tan had said that aside from attracting tourists to both Leyte and Samar, this could also lead for more investors to come in, particularly in her province, which is among the country’s poorest areas.