Part II: The Colgante Bridge Tragedy of 1972

Part II: The Colgante Bridge Tragedy of 1972

by Totie Mesia and Mariso Ocampo

Desiring to help, many jumped instinctively into the river. With prodding from Naga Policeman Delfin Platon who heroically calmed the frantic crowd, they fished out bodies and survivors until they got lame tired, way beyond exhaustion. Muscle cramps and fatigue overtook the shivering rescuers who got relief from ablutions of “oil of wintergreen,” a liquid balm given by nameless people in the crowd.

The injuries were as apparent as the telltale signs of drowning after the Colgante Bridge collapse. Electrical burns made victim recognition hard. Grimy detritus from river trash messed-up some victims’ bloodied faces whose fingers, in cadaveric flexion, looked as if they were in prayer. With rigor mortis, the bodies, were hastily covered by wet newspapers. Many on-lookers cried. Overwhelmed by the horrific scene, others threw up in the shadows of a black sky.

It’s the religious faith of those who perished in Colgante that sets them apart from those who died violently in car crashes, ship wrecks, fraternity hazings, or those needlessly trampled upon by the Wowowee crowd. The Colgante deaths remind the people of commercialism that has invaded the Penafrancia celebration. Business and religious faith seemed to have bonded together more closely in every fiesta raising questions whether this should be.

The Colgante tragedy which claimed the lives of about 140 people was quickly brushed aside from public attention when martial law was declared 4 days after by Ferdinand Marcos on September 21, 1972. The span where the gruesome deaths occurred should be aptly called “Faith Bridge,” in memory of those who died paying respects to the Virgin. Thirty-six years after the Colgante bridge collapse and 27 years after Ina vanished and returned, Bikol keeps a blurry recall and record of the events.

How many really died? Do we have a complete list of them who perished and suffered injuries in Colgante’s fall on September 16, 1972? Was there anyone made to answer for breach of duty? Were victims compensated at all, identified and given decent burials? Was there closure in every victim’s family?

The river deaths could have been avoided if the people didn’t crowd the bridge beyond its capacity to hold. Those in charge in the maintenance and safety could have known better. Perhaps if Colgante didn’t collapse, we wouldn’t be resigned in finding solace in “forgiving and forgetting” and invoking “God’s will.”

There could be loud merry shouts trailing “Viva la Virgen!” as the voyadores passed without thinking of the intransigent mysterious lady who rode the boat. The people could have safely stood on the bridge and prayed without fear of a great fall. And faith would still be there for God and the revered Virgin.-0-

The loss and return of the Virgin of Penafrancia & the Colgante Bridge tragedy

Part I: The Loss and Return of Our Lady of Penafrancia
by Totie Mesia and Mariso Ocampo
Posted by mesiamd at 9/19/2008

Bicolanos like the rest of the Filipinos are supposed to be happy people. We shun gloom, when it relates to the Penafrancia celebration. A diet of ginota’an na gulay, chili, and doses of wicked weather make our fiestas more fun. For each favor we ask the Virgin, we have a positive answer to hope for.

It was in 1981, nine years after the Colgante Bridge collapse that Ina’s image vanished. Carted away by burglars to the distress of the people, Ina’s icon became an object of a nationwide hunt. Prayers were said by the entire nation for the return of the old ebony image which could fetch a good sum as Imelda Marcos’ jewels from antique dealers like Sotheby’s and Christie’s. Reports of malevolent portents and explicable signs occupied us, superstitious Bicolanos. But it wasn’t until unrelenting torrential rains flooded Manila that the image reappeared.

“What’s important is she’s back,” we were told. Although it was a crime to snatch the Virgin’s image, few seemed to know who took it. Punishing the robber(s) wasn’t a priority as some rumors flew that Imelda Marcos was involved.

The sight of bare-footed devotees piously walking the image back to her church brought home the popular message of “forgive and forget” which remained a core value of many us. Forgiving and putting aside foul memories of the theft were easy justifications of not doing anything to prosecute a crime. It stood on the way of bringing justice and closure to those who had been wronged.

“My son died looking for Ina,“ said Salvacion C. Neola of Naga City a few years before she passed away. Like everyone else, Neola, a widow and fervent Penafrancia devotee didn’t insist who was behind Ina’s disappearance> Her son Reynaldo, a Naga City policeman, met his death; his companions were seriously wounded searching for the icon. With little clarity to what really happened, we seemed to have lost a footnote of history and a chance to punish the crime.

Today, the Colgante tragedy where scores died while watching the Penafrancia river procession is an old tale just like the enigma of Ina’s disappearance. We recall the frenzy stirred by the bridge crashing down the river, the victims trapped in the pile of fractured timber resting on severed body parts in the water. More than a hundred drowned deep in the dark riverbed, making recovery and recognition difficult.

As told by Rufo Tuy Jr, the popular DZRB radio announcer, some met their demise when the bridge’s live electrical wirings snapped. As lights went dead, hysterical moms who heard of the tragedy acted like agitated hens, panicked by the immensity of the tragedy. Displayed in a local radio station for relatives to identify, piles of bodies of those who drowned and were crushed by the rushing crowd in stampede scared them. (to be continued…Part II: The Colgante Bridge Tragedy of 1972...) =0=

Losing and finding the icon of the Virgin of Penafrancia: why the public deserves to know

The plot was not as riveting and complicated as the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark, but when the image of the Virgin of Penafrancia (Ina) aka Nuestra Senora de Penafrancia vanished on August 16, 1981, the Filipinos were devastated.

There was revulsion among the people when unnamed burglar(s) barged into the Penafrancia Church and snatched the centuries-old Ina, the most popular sacred object of Marian veneration of Bicolanos. The antique image went missing for about three weeks fueling speculations and causing the death of a Naga city policemen. The Virgin’s image was returned before the annual September fiesta in her honor.

Countless devotees went on penitential processions praying for the recovery of Ina’s image. On September 5, 1981, Typhoon Ruping swept the land. Msgr. Florencio Yllana, the former chaplain of the Penafrancia Church, went to Manila to receive the 6-part statue of the Virgin when it reappeared.

A thanksgiving mass was offered in the Naga Metropolitan Cathedral after the wooden image was brought back to Naga. The city buzzed with rumors, but church and government officials were tight-lipped on who was behind the theft. At the time when Pres. Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda were in power, no one dared to ask. The Catholic clergy cryptically said, “it’s enough that Ina is back!”

No it isn’t enough. For the sake of history, accountability, and justice for Patrolman Reynaldo Neola (the policeman who died looking for the missing Virgin,) the public to this day deserves to know. It’s time that those who are privy to the circumstances of the theft must speak up to unravel the truth before time buries an ignominious footnote in Penafrancia’s past. (Photo Credit: JerryLimLee)

Abangan!

The Loss and Return

of Our Lady of Penafrancia

& the Colgante Bridge Disaster

(Parts I & Part II)

by Totie Mesia and Mariso Ocampo

“Thirty-six years after the Colgante bridge collapse and 27 years after Ina vanished and returned, Bikol keeps a blurry recall and record of the events.”