BY GEROME DALIPE
ILOILO City – The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Region 6 has started repairing the defective P680-million Ungka flyover in Barangay Ungka II, Pavia town.
In a letter, Engr. Sanny Boy Oropel, officer-in-charge director of DPWH-6, informed the Iloilo City Council the Davao-based Monolithic Construction Corp. installed temporary rails and enclosures at piers 1 to 3 to begin the retrofitting of the sinking flyover.
The repair and strengthening of the Ungka flyover cost a whooping P296 million in public funds. It is divided into two tranches.
The first tranche covers the jet grouting of the flyover’s 13 piers. The national government allotted P96 million for such repair, expected to be finished in 120 days.
The second tranche, which costs P200 million in public funds, includes the replacement of spans between specific piers and the deepening of the bored piles of certain piers from 28 meters to 47 meters.
DPWH-6 aims to complete the rectification by July 2024 and fully reopen the flyover by the first week of August.
With such a costly repair, will the DPWH-6 push stringent mechanisms for quality control, project oversight, and transparency to ensure the contractor’s job meets the required standards in rectifying the flawed flyover?
Former Iloilo City Councilor Plaridel voiced apprehensions about trusting what he labeled as a “corrupt” agency such as DPWH in ensuring project standard compliance.
“Since the beginning, DPWH has been conspiring and confederating with IBC by doing anything within its power to cover up the contractor’s liability,” Nava told Panay News in a statement.
He had hauled several DPWH-6 officials and the project contractor before the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas for their alleged failure to exercise due diligence in ensuring the quality of the infrastructure project funded by taxpayer’s money.
The closure of the Ungka flyover caused enormous inconvenience to the public and such inconvenience cannot be quantified by pecuniary estimation nor can it be reparable, he said.
Nava asked the Ombudsman-Visayas to place the respondents under 90 days preventive suspension while the investigation is ongoing to prevent them from influencing the witnesses or tampering with the documents.
Nava also said he will file a pleading before the Ombudsman-Visayas to inquire about the status of his complaint against DPWH-6 officials and IBC officers. He earlier expressed his frustration at the anti-graft office for inaction on his complaint for almost one year.
Likewise, he said he was gathering evidence to support his contention the Monolithic Construction Corp. is merely a dummy of International Builders Corp. (IBC) to fix the defective P680-million flyover.
The former councilor said it seemed that IBC circumvented the law because they used a dummy to corner the contract to fix the flyover, adding the law prohibits the contractor from participating in the bidding due to a pending case with the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas.
In his letter to Vice Mayor Jeffrey Ganzon, Oropel merely assured the legislators of the safety of the public during the repair by putting up signage in the Ungka flyover’s vicinity.
“Despite these measures, vehicular traffic will continue to flow in both directions, facilitating access to Pavia town and Iloilo City. Ungka flyover will remain accessible to traffic from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 10 p.m.,” read part of Oropel’s letter.
In an interview, City Councilor Johnny Young said the city council’s request for monthly updates from the DPWH-6 merely for the council to be apprised of the traffic flow under the flyover.
He said the city council sought monthly updates from DPWH to ensure the motorists and commuters would not be hampered during the repair.
“With regards to technical specification, the city council did not request it. We just want to ensure smooth vehicular traffic. With regards to the technicality of the construction, we do not have the “know-how,” said Young.
The Ungka flyover was opened to traffic in the second week of September 2022. However, the DPWH closed it two weeks later due to vertical displacement.
Third-party consulting firm Abinales Associates Engineers + Consultants has earlier recommended that DPWH repair the vertical displacement at piers 4, 5, and 6 of the flyover which will entail at least P250 million more to fix it.
Structural engineer Adam Abinales, the managing partner of the Pasig-based Abinales Associates Engineers + Consultants, earlier told the Regional Development Council-Western Visayas’ Infrastructure Development Committee that piers 4, 5, and 6 of the flyover’s 16 piers sank by more than one foot between May 2022 and April 14, 2023.
Pier No. 5 was built on a layer of soil that is prone to liquefaction, which increases the risk of significant damage during seismic events such as earthquakes./PN
