Back in November 2016, netizens made a unified call to the local government and relevant agencies to check on the plight of the people, especially school children, who had to cross the river using a tightrope connecting Barangay Lanipao and Barangay Mandulog in Iligan City, southern Philippines.
Read the full story here: “Video of Children Crossing Rope Bridge Over a River Goes Viral as Netizens Call on Politicians to Do Their Jobs”
After the post made it to Mocha Uson blog and eventually to Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Mark Villar, construction of a temporary footbridge was immediately started. The footbridge will be a temporary but sturdy bridge for the people to use while the DPWH and the local officials will find funding for the permanent bridge.
On January 30, 2017, just a little over 2 months after Lanipao high school teacher Ms. Yasmin Mangorsi posted the viral video on Facebook, the “Tulay ng Pagbabago” (Bridge of Change) was inaugurated! Isn’t that wonderful?
While a number of netizens asked why the bridge seemed small and just temporary or whatever flaws they had seen, many also countered that this was, indeed, just a temporary bridge and that the current administration has done its best to provide for the fastest and best solution they could find for the problem using what funds they had at hand.
A permanent bridge would surely cost more and would be completed in a span of several months; thus, building the footbridge was already an excellent solution to the problem!
What do you think?
