ILOILO CITY — The civil society group United Filipino Consumers and Commuters (UFCC) is urging legislators and President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to scrutinize the deal between the Department of Public Works and Highways’ Bureau of Designs (DPWH-BOD) and the contractor United Technology Consolidated Partnership (UTCP) that resulted in the faulty design of the sinking Ungka flyover in Iloilo City.
In support to the indignation of residents of Iloilo City, UFCC hanged several banners in the flyover, expressing their appeal to authorities to investigate and press charges against the two agencies for putting the lives of motorists and commuters at risk.
“We are appealing to Pres. Bongbong Marcos to resolve this problem’ and protect the lives of motorists and commuters,” said UFCC president Rudolfo Javellana Jr.
UFCC earlier decried the sloppiness of DPWH and UTCP for “wasting” P680 million of taxpayers’ money for the faulty Ungka flyover.
UFCC is a national advocacy group that pushes grassroots welfare, especially for the rights of consumers and safety of the commuters sector.
Javellana recently said in a manifesto they uploaded on social media that DPWH’s Central Office as well as UTCP, the company it commissioned to design the Ungka flyover and conduct soil testing on the site where the flyover was constructed, should be investigated and even face charges for betraying public trust for their sloppiness.
Javellana, a native of Iloilo province, last week said Congress should heed the call of the people of Iloilo to look into the accountability of the DPWH Central Office for the approval of fautly flyover design.
UTCP, the geotechnical consultancy firm commissioned to design the flyover based on their soil testing, should be questioned by lawmakers, said Javellana.
Javellana also agreed with Nilo Jardeleza, a respected Iloilo-based structural engineer who said that the design of the flyover was submitted by UTCP to the Bureau of Designs of DPWH Central Office. Only after all the documents and necessary inspections were made that the final design and plan for Ungka flyover were given to DPWH Region 6 for bidding and construction oversight at quality control. This is to ensure that the construction company contracted to build the project will strictly follow the design provided for by DPWH Central Office and UTCP.
“Unfortunately, it is now the regional DPWH office and the local government authorities that are bearing the brunt of criticism for the unsafe and defective flyover, and not those who should be held accountable,” said Javellana.
Likewise, the UFCC president is lamenting the propagation of blames directed to the local implementors of the project for it is foremost unfair and consequently shielding the real culprit to the problem.
Javellana is rallying the people of Iloilo and the whole Region 6 to be united with the truth and in unity demand fair justice and speedy solution to the Ungka Flyover problem./PN
