TARLAC CITY, Tarlac — “When I was mayor, never po nagkaroon ng project ang Northern Builders under our LGU. Never pa po tayong na-involve in any flood control, budget, or bidding, or whatever sa mga public works.”
This was the rebuttal given by Tarlac Second Congressional District Representative Cristy Angeles, dismissing allegations linking her administration and her husband’s construction firm to the collapse of the Ninoy Aquino Bridge. Her statement came after intense public scrutiny after the collapse of the Ninoy Aquino and Agana Bridges in Tarlac City, where she was mayor from 2016 to 2025.
Angeles admitted that her husband Vic’s construction company, Northern Builders, was responsible for the groundsill on Aquino Bridge in 2022. The DPWH groundsill project costs P73,765,257.64.
In an interview with the ABS-CBN news channel, Angeles clarified the specific nature of the projects handled by Northern Builders, emphasizing that their past involvement adhered strictly to regulatory standards and standard DPWH protocols.
Addressing the specifics of past engineering works, the lawmaker stated that Northern Builders’ groundsill project was not part of the damaged section of the Aquino Bridge. Instead, the project successfully reinforced the bridge’s foundation before funding constraints halted its total completion.
Angeles firmly maintained that neither she nor her family members held any involvement or undue influence over public works budgets, bidding procedures, or project execution during her tenure as the chief executive of Tarlac City.
She stressed that the city government under her leadership operated transparently and independently from private construction contracts.
Local authorities and engineering observers within Tarlac province continue to await comprehensive technical assessment reports from the Department of Public Works and Highways to officially determine the primary factors behind the structural failures observed on local bridges.
