San Juanico Bridge Will Soon Have Dancing Lights

The Department of Tourism Region 8 (DOT-8) and the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) are spearheading a project that shall soon see dancing lights installed on the famed San Juanico Bridge. The Tourism Infrastructure Development Technical Working Group (TID-TWG) unveiled this plan during a meeting held recently at the Hotel Lorenza in Tacloban City.

The PHP80 million project, according to DOT-8 Regional Director Karina Rosa Tiopes, is expected to boost the area's tourism industry while promoting job and livelihood opportunities. Both of these forecasted results are expected to improve the economic stability not only of Samar but of the whole Eastern Visayas region.

Angelito Roque, a TIEZA electrical engineer, said the project will implement two types of lights on the Philippines' longest bridge--the static and dynamic.

"The static lightings will operate nightly for eight to nine hours to start at 7 PM while the dynamic lightings known as dancing lights will only be seen every Friday, Saturday and Sunday for a total of one hour per night, played every 15 minutes," Roque said.

The engineer added that no car will be allowed to pass the bridge while the dynamic lights are on, and the music that will accompany the dancing lights will depend on the current event or season.

"The project which has a similar concept as that of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California, is funded by the TIEZA, the  implementing arm of DOT, of which funds comes from the collections of travel taxes," Roque added.

The project is expected to be completed within 180 days or six months.

Aside from the new bridge lighting system, TID-TWG’s other projects in the pipeline include the construction of a PHP97 million, nine-meter baywalk which will consist of a three-meter viewing side, three-meter access road, and another three meters for restaurants and kiosks to be rented by some  investors.

The technical working group is also working on a framework for total tourism development of San Juanico Strait which will address the management of traffic, safety, resiliency, security, and waste to ensure the tourist-friendliness of the area.