Manila, March 6 -- The government will construct a new bridge in Isabela province, following the collapse of Cabagan-Sta. Maria Bridge, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. vowed on Thursday.

Marcos made the commitment after inspecting the collapsed bridge, saying the old design was "poor" and "really weak."

In a media interview after the inspection, Marcos said the original budget for the construction of the bridge was PHP900 million but rose to PHP1.2 billion because of retrofitting.

"Ang puno't dulo nito (The bottomline is) design flaw. It is a design flaw. Mali ang design. Ang history kasi nito, dapat ang funding nito was supposed to be ang project cost nito is PHP1.8 billion. So, binawasan under PHP1 billion para makamura. Ayan, inay...