Romancing San Juanico Bridge, Tacloban City

8 Things You Ought To Know About the Longest Bridge in the Philippines

1. San Juanico Bridge is the longest bridge in the Philippines measuring 2.162 kilometers in length.

2. The bridge connects the province of Leyte and the province of Samar.

3. It is also called the Bridge of Love because it was (allegedly) a gift of Ferdinand Marcos to Imelda Romualdez and to the city of Tacloban.


4. It was constructed in August 1969 and completed (before I was born) in December 1972.

5. The best angle to photograph San Juanico Bridge is via an aerial shot according to Master George Tapan.

6. The bridge is shaped like the letters L S which stands for Leyte and Samar.

7. The best time to shoot San Juanico bridge is during sunrise.

8. The best way to experience San Juanico Bridge is to do a 5 km walk from one end of the bridge to the other end and then go back.

15 thoughts on “Romancing San Juanico Bridge, Tacloban City

  1. I am really amaze on all the Photos I have been on different places and still I aim to go to there to see the fantastic sceneries. It is amazing.
    ________________
    precious leonna

  2. I’ve been there 4 years ago. We stopped at the middle and footway of the bridge to take photos. I do have fear of heights that’s why I awfully smiled in majority of the shots. I feared more when the bridge slightly ‘moves’ (I think it has something to do with the construction) whenever heavy vehicles passed by. =)

  3. beautiful photos as usual! ang ganda, so vivid! thanks for sharing 🙂 btw, how many minutes does it take for the 5 km walk? the sidewalk really comes in handy 🙂

  4. bro,
    natawagan ka na ni ambassador henares?
    he’s back from his two-month sabbatical,
    time to meet and schedule the next Ultimate Tours!
    p.s.
    i hope you had SCALLOPS every night when you were in leyte!

  5. Very nice photos Anton! Thanks a lot! I have seen this countless times but I am still in awe when I see it in photos. I dont think I have walked it from one end to another and I am really not sure if I want to LOL =)
    I agree with Manila Boy, I hope you had scallops while you were there.

  6. this is not an entry to any conctest just want FIRST LOVE:A HEALTHY WORLD PLANET PARADISE old high school beloved-friends and all of OAP viewers have some thing to LAUGHED-WRITE{h.s} ABOUT lol….5 kilometers walk if walking fast-brisk in san juanico bridge i’d say around 3 hours or more{for me}….we were once ‘stuck’ exactly right in front of san juanico bridge entrance on my way to southern part of philippines more than a decade ago engine trouble made us stayed overnight there was no hotel motels resorts nor a camping site for some privacy or to settle comfortably….everyone was cramped sleeping crooked inside the bus so i went outside and disturbed all the native houses by the bridge entrance suddenly the dark roads ‘lit’ up with kerosene lamps candles ‘kinke’ i greeted asked them louddly but ‘politely’if they want to make some money for the night i told them we had emergencies that needs to be tend to like board & lodging i told them we will need food drinks beds floors sofas blankets some extra clean clothes mosquito nets in particular bathrooms to showers or bathe with tabos is fine i told them everything some of the bus passengers will be needing and we are-i was willing to pay whatever or how much they will charge us….no one answered….silence…..then i told them i was willing to pay in thousands of pesos then invitations-deals came in-poured in without looking checking the conditions of the places what matters are our legs must be straightened up for hours and mosquitos cannot have me for free lol!….i was telling the mosquitos earlier in the bus that HEY! you guys{mosquitos}cannot have me for free….if you wanna bite and want to suck some blood out of me THEN YOU HAVE TO PAY lol!….i jumped back inside the bus and disturbed everyone by saying: ANYONE WHO WANTS TO SLEEP IN BEDS FLOORS SOFAS WITH PILLOWS MOSQUITO NETS EAT DRINKS AND BATHE ARE WELCOME TO ALL THOSE LIT UP NATIVE HOUSES BY THE ROAD BUT COMES WITH A FEE….i was not done telling everything when all of the passengers jumped out of the bus competing-hurried to the lit houses lol!….well as usual i got the raw deal lol! coz when i arrived at the only decent bigger lit place the owners family were already preparing to cook and some serving drinks-beer to some co-passengers i have to wait for all of them using restrooms bathing areas the house owners-hosts opened can foods cooked rice sardines by adding extra ingredients ‘miswa’ patola to accommodate more than a dozen passengers i do not eat fish so the lady of the house opened another can but of corned beef and cooked them in garlic onions tomatoes i couldnt go to use the restroom coz if i leave i knew there will be no corned beef left for me but i really have to go so i made a deal with the lady of the house that if she reserved at least half of the corned beef i will pay her 500,00 pesos just for the reservation so we had a deal lol….i followed the line of the rest-bath room of course i was the last one some of the passengers were already sleeping when they heard a ‘disturbing’ deadly loud scream…..i was screaming like hell lol! lol!….coz i found out their rest room is around 10 feet above the water and it is AN OPEN SPACE lol!….when the last rest room user passed me her ‘kinke’ and i started walking in a few bamboo ladder-floor like areas is when i started screaming lol! lol coz the end of the narrow bammboo floor is the water flowing under san juanico bridge lol! lol all the men run towards me and they all laughed when they saw me-my expressionless lol!…..all i can say to those co passengers STARING AT ME is…..manong i could’nt do this i don’t wanna fall under san juanico bridge lol! lol….so back to the kithen after my favorite ‘tabo’ bath by the DARK doorway of bamboo bridge i actuallly had a wonderful 500,00 pesos reservation plus another 500,00 pesos for the half can cooked corned beef and rice lol and another 500,00 pesos small papag{no mattress of anykind}but with a pillow and a mosquito net….i slept good quiet like an angel that night knowing mosquitos lost their battle agaisnt my protective ONE WOMAN BATTLE GEAR the ‘great’ poweful ‘very’ effective mosquito net lol! lol lol….

  7. Nice photos Anton! For some reason, I remembered the Mackinac Bridge in Michigan…minus the the suspension cables of course, hehehe!

  8. Huy Anton!
    Galing galing mo talaga! 🙂 You did the bridge justice. You did a very good job showcasing it’s beauty :).
    Anne

  9. ….kate….my comments about the 5 kilometers san juanico bridge fast walk in 3 hours or more is part of that ‘something’ to laughed about….coz i am now twice my body size from 70’s high school days lol meaning i am fatter WAY older slower coz every kilometer i must stop to ‘breath’ rest lol!….but during my earlier high school days i was ‘running’ 5 kilometers ‘UP’in smaller local mountains in just 20-22 minutes ‘even’ shorter-under than that coz i was ‘terrified’ running if my father finds out i am not home before ‘dark’ hours so i was almost ‘flying’ back home sometimes i was barefooted from hurrying sometimes my feet we’re bleeding heavily coz i was running above full ‘makahiya’ bushes sometimes broken glasses open cans and jumping above some property barb wires if carabaos & horses were available i ride with them until the last-end border of my sister’s property then MUST ‘fly’ home by foot but i have a son who can run 5 kilometers san juanico bridge in just ‘under’ 20 minutes and not scared from me….

  10. Your pix are really really nice! If I have seen this picture when I was still in grade school, I think I have understood Araling Panglipunan much better, than looking at the old black and white pix. hehe.. =p great job! =]

  11. magamda pa rin ang bridge,so many memories i have and it cannot be forgotten even with the passimg of time.parang kailan lang.kitang kita ko kung paano ginawa yan. mula sa unang abatment hanggang sa inauguration day.kung paano kami nag evacuate noong 1979 sa ilalim nito paakyat sa abatment dahil bumaha noon.grabing bagyo talaga.ung bridge pasyalan namin kung gabi.naaalala ko ang nga kababata ko at ang mga military sa may checkpoint.ung mga crabs and seashells sa ilalim ng bridge.libre lang at di kami takot sa red tide noon.yong lato nga puede kunuha ng sako sako.pati na rin ung mga ahas sa ilalin ng pantalan sa samar side.kaibigan ko siguro sila kaya palagi king nakikita pag Naglalaro ako at naliligo.si dante varona sa may harapan ng bahay namin NAGDIVE,

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