After a meeting with Metro Manila local government officials to discuss traffic concerns, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. told the media that the upcoming 32.15-kilometer Cavite-Bataan Interlink Bridge will be the second longest in the world. This is false.
(Read VERA FILES FACT SHEET: The Marcos administration’s 12 ‘mega bridges’)
The current second longest bridge in the world is located in Taiwan and measures 157 kilometers. Upon its completion, the Cavite-Bataan Interlink is set to be the second longest bridge in the country.
STATEMENT
Asked after a town hall meeting on April 10 in San Juan City about the ongoing construction of the Cavite-Bataan Interlink Bridge, Marcos said:
“The only downside to that is it takes a long time. It’s a 32-kilometer bridge. It is the second longest bridge in the world ang ating ginagawa, so it will take a little bit of time.”
(It’s a 32-kilometer bridge. It is the second longest bridge in the world that we’re constructing, so it will take a little bit of time.)
Source: RTV Malacañang official YouTube page, Media Interview 04/10/2024, April 10, 2024, watch from 3:53 to 4:06
FACT
When completed, the Cavite-Bataan Interlink Bridge will be the second longest in the Philippines, but it is nowhere near the longest in the world, as Marcos claimed.
The Guinness World Records cites the Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge in China as the longest in the world. Completed in 2011, the viaduct spans 164 kilometers. The second longest, according to Encyclopedia Britannica, is the Changhua-Kaohsiung Viaduct in Taiwan at 157.3 kilometers.
In terms of ongoing bridge projects across the world, a 2023 article by the American magazine Construction Briefing listed the Cavite-Bataan Interlink Bridge as second on its list of biggest ongoing bridge projects in the world. However, this article ranked projects according to construction costs and not length.
At present, the longest bridge in the Philippines is the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway at 8.9 kilometers, overtaking the previous title holder San Juanico Bridge, which stood at 2.1 kilometers.
The Cavite-Bataan Interlink is slated to be the second longest bridge in the country, next to the still ongoing 32.47-kilometer Panay-Guimaras-Negros Island Bridge.
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Sources
Construction Briefing, Six of the biggest bridge projects under construction and development, May 12, 2023
Department of Public Works and Highways official website, Consultancy Services for the Conduct of Feasibility Study for Structural and Foundation Analysis and Investigation on the Rehabilitation/Repair of San Juanico Bridge, Accessed April 15, 2024
Department of Public Works and Highways official website, Environmental Impact Assessment – Cavite-Bataan Interlink Bridge Project, Accessed April 15, 2024
Department of Public Works and Highways official website, PRRD Inaugurates Cebu’s New Iconic Bridge, Apr. 28, 2022
Encyclopedia Britannica, Bridge – U.S. Designs, Accessed April 15, 2024
Guinness World Records, Longest bridge, Accessed April 15, 2024
National Economic Development Authority official website, Infrastructure Flagship Projects (IFPs) under the Build-Better-More Program, updated March 31, 2023
(Guided by the code of principles of the International Fact-Checking Network at Poynter, VERA Files tracks the false claims, flip-flops, misleading statements of public officials and figures, and debunks them with factual evidence. Find out more about this initiative and our methodology.)
