ON AUGUST 28 and 29, 2026, two of the most iconic bridges in Tarlac City collapsed due to the raging current brought about by the Southwest Monsoon rains, most popularly known as Habagat.
The two bridges, connect the Poblacion area of the city to its western barangays, to the five municipalities of the province namely San Clemente, Camiling, Sta. Ignacia, Mayantoc, and San Jose and to the province of Pangasinan.
It practically cut-off the western barangays and municipalities from Tarlac City proper as alternate routes will take hours to traverse from the usual few minutes.
But when were these two iconic bridges constructed?
First, the Agana Bridge—it was named after former Tarlac Governor Marcelino Agana who served from 1928 to 1931.
Agana is most remembered for the construction of the Calero Bridge in the then capital municipality of Tarlac, Tarlac. The bridge, constructed in the mid-1940’s, connects the barrios Carangian and Tibag thereby connecting all the barrios and western towns of Tarlac.
As a fitting tribute and appreciation to his contributions in the fields of public work, transportation and communication, the Calero Bridge was renamed Agana Bridge in 1950s.
The Aquino Bridge, on the other hand, was named after former Tarlac governor and Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., the considered democracy icon of the country.
The bridge was constructed in 1988 when Mariano Un Ocampo III was the provincial governor, Ninoy’s wife, Corazon “Cory” Cojuangco-Aquino was the president and another Tarlac native Guillermo Carague was the budget secretary.
While the bridges were constructed long time ago, the dikes around Tarlac River were just recently built and the latest was in 2021 up to 2025. The very recent dike construction was that of the San Isidro Zone 1 portion which was only completed in February of 2026 and was destroyed by the strong river current on August 17.
Another portion of the Tarlac River dike constructed between 2021 and 2025, the Cut-Cut, Mabini, and Carangian sections, cracks and a massive sinkhole were recorded by authorities from the Department of Public Works and Highways and that they likewise found out that the dike were constructed lacking reinforced steel bars.
That in a nutshell is the history of the two Tarlac bridges. Tarlac Standard
