“the bloody secret of the longest bridge in the Philippines“
ABOUT:
The San Juanico Bridge is part of the Pan-Philippine Highway and it connects the provinces Samar and Leyte crossing the San Juanico Strait. It is an arch-shaped truss bridge and is known to be the longest bridge in Philippine. It has a length of 2.16 kilometers. It was once called as the Marcos bridge since it was built under Marcos administration. It was also said that this bridge was dedicated to his wife, Imelda Marcos, and served as a birthday gift and a testimonial of his love for her because of this some call this bridge as the bridge of love. The San Juanico Bridge was able to help the economy of not only the both provinces but the entire country. It attracted many tourists because of its picturesque view. The construction of the bridge started in 1969 and it costs $21.9 million. But did you know that there’s a story about what the secret mixture in its foundation is? An urban legend or not, the story how the San Juanico Bridge was built will make you shiver.
Construction started: 1969 Height: 41 m
OVERVIEW:
The one in charge of building the bridge was Imelda Marcos, the wife of Ferdinand Marcos. Some said that she actually consulted a fortune teller who said that the bridge would only be finished if there would be blood of children in it. Believing the fortune teller, she ordered workers to kidnap street children and slit their throats. Many said that this bridge has a bloody foundation. It was said that instead of just putting the blood on the bridge, the blood itself was mixed into the cement. A much scarier version is that the bodies of children were directly thrown into the mixer by the construction workers. During the time if its construction, many children coincidentally disappeared in Samar and Leyte. The vanishing just stopped when the construction of the bridge was done. The bodies of the children were just thrown to the river. There are many versions of the story but one thing in common it all involves children.
The throwing of the bodies was said to be seen by a “river fairy”. The river fairy got mad with this action so she decided to curse the women responsible for this. The legs of the woman grew scales and she emits a foul fishy smell. This is why she would always wear long skirts and gowns to hide her legs and frequently takes a bath to remove the smell. These are just some version of the San Juanico Bridge construction. Nevertheless the bridge has stood there through a long period of time. It has withstood the wrath of the super typhoon Yolanda last November 13. It remains tough and sturdy even though many damages happened. The San Juanico Bridge is the main route for Waraynons in the Leyte and Samar provinces to connect with their relatives and love ones. The bridge connects Tacloban City on the Leyte side and the town of Santa Rita on the Samar side.
Urban Legends In the Philippines - The San Juanico Bridge 