When I was in high school in Borongan in the late 1970s, I would sometimes accompany my classmates when they went home on weekends to Surok, then a small barangay about 3 kilometers from the town proper. I remember we had to cross the wide Borongan river on foot, if the tide was low, or swim if the tide was high. My classmates always told me that it was their dream to have a bridge constructed that would link their barangay to Calingatngan, another small barangay on the river's eastern bank.
In all those years that I was away from Borongan, I always thought that my classmates' dream of having a bridge must have already come true considering the progress that many places in Eastern Samar have attained. But I could not believe what I saw when we visited the place (for scientific purposes) in September of 2019. There is still no bridge until now. It was a shocking sight to me. I could not believe it. Low-cost hanging bridges are everywhere in the country nowadays, even in the most remote and poorest municipalities. I cannot help but wonder why our political leaders in Borongan have not included it in their priority programs in the last 50 years or so.
When I asked the old man who was ferrying a small group of people using his banca (a small wooden boat) to the other riverbank, he told me that the government has instead constructed a road that connects their barangay to the city. But it is a much longer and circuitous route of about 6 kilometers. "I do not believe that I will see a bridge over the river in my lifetime" he added. "That is sad" I replied.
It seems the dream bridge will remain a dream after all.
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