THE northbound lanes of the Tuganay Bridge in Carmen, Davao del Norte are scheduled to open by the end of March 2026, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) announced.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, March 5, 2026, the DPWH said construction work on the bridge is ongoing and remains on track to meet the deadline.
According to the agency, the project aligns with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s directive to accelerate the completion of major infrastructure projects nationwide. The bridge is part of ongoing initiatives in the Davao Region designed to improve traffic flow and support local development.
Investigation ordered
DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon ordered a comprehensive audit of infrastructure projects plagued by delays, cost overruns, and public complaints during a press conference with Davao media on September 25, 2025, at the agency’s Engineering Office in Panacan, Davao City.
He specifically requested a detailed report on the Tuganay Bridge, which has become a symbol of government inefficiency and corruption in the region.
“Send me the details of Tuganay Bridge. We will look into it,” Dizon told DPWH Region-Davao Director Juby B. Cordon. He warned that the audit would hold everyone accountable.
Dizon also highlighted systemic corruption within the agency as the core problem behind the delays.
The P516-million bridge began construction nearly five years ago but has faced multiple delays. In a 2023 interview, DPWH-Davao spokesperson Dean Ortiz said the first phase of the project was completed in 2021. Progress slowed because funds for the bridge were excluded from the national budget in 2022.
Davao del Norte Governor Edwin Jubahib urged Second District Representative Allan Dujali to prioritize the bridge, as it falls under the congressman’s development initiatives. The project is expected to be completed in 2025 after all four phases are finished.
Ortiz explained that Phase 1 involved the removal of the southbound lane, while Phase 2 focused on constructing the substructure, including posts, board piling, and foundations. The same steps will be applied to the northbound lane during Phases 3 and 4.
Once complete, the bridge will replace the old four-lane steel structure with a wider concrete bridge.
Monitoring infrastructure in Davao
The announcement follows nationwide inspections by the DPWH, including in Davao, which revealed anomalies in flood control projects.
In the Municipality of Jose Abad Santos, Davao Occidental, authorities uncovered a multimillion-peso "ghost project."
The project, valued at ₱96.5 million, was declared 100 percent complete and fully paid to St. Timothy Construction Corp. in 2022. However, inspections by the DPWH and the Independent Commission for Infrastructure revealed that actual construction did not start until late 2025, three years after its supposed completion.
As of February 2026, contractor Sarah Discaya is detained in Lapu-Lapu City facing malversation charges linked to the project.
In December 2025, eight DPWH officials from the Davao Occidental District Engineering Office surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation following graft and malversation complaints.
The NBI and the Office of the Ombudsman are investigating a total of 13 questionable projects in the province, with a combined cost exceeding ₱1 billion. This includes a ₱116-million substandard project in Barangay Demoloc, Malita, where a newly built 500-meter revetment has partially collapsed.
The entire DPWH Davao Occidental District Engineering Office was placed under a six-month preventive suspension due to falsified accomplishment reports and fraudulent billing. RGL