Contractor vows to repair damaged promenade for free

By Felipe V. Celino

ROXAS CITY, Capiz – “Ubrahon namon ina liwat, wala kami sang sukton bisan piso (We will repair that for free).”

This was the statement of Engr. Richard Villareal of MBM Construction in assuring the reconstruction of the overturned Riverside Promenade Phase lll on Washington St. Brgy. VI here last Nov. 11, 2022.
A press conference was called by Mayor Ronnie Dadivas on Friday afternoon, Nov. 25, to lay down the investigation report of the independent committee created by the city government that investigated the collapsed portion of the promenade.

Engr. Arturo Tabia, piling specialist and senior structural geotechnical engineer, said the structure was weak and it easily caved in because of the presence of “montmorillonite clay mineral.”

He said the weepholes and perforated pipes are lacking that led to the soil eroding.

In a 7-page report, the independent committee said “the structural integrity of the anchored footing and overhang reinforced concrete slab are structurally sound or the design integrity are still safe during the overturning of the structure because the structure was still solid and showed no sign of damage, crack shear failure of the structure connection.”

The committee said that “since the project is ongoing, it is recommended that the entire structure of the overturning structure portion of the riverside promenade is to be demolished and construct a new stable structure based on the recommendation by the independent committee with the revised design and plans as per the criterion of safety strength design and site profile condition.”

The committee is composed of Engr. Ryan B. Robles of the Department of Public Works and Highways’ Design and Planning Section; Engr. Reubin L. Yap, past president of Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers (PICE)-Capiz Chapter; Engr. Ramil Artates, a structural engineer; Engr. Arturo Tabia, Geo-Technical/Soil Testing Engineer; and Engr. Antonio Amoroso, officer-in-charge of the Roxas City Engineer’s Office.

The Roxas City Government assured the public that this incident shall be dealt with accordingly.

“It is significant to note that the contractor has agreed, as per its contract with the Roxas City Government, that it will execute and complete the works and remedy any defect in the project in conformity with the provisions of its contract.”

The city government here also assured that it will compel the contractor to finish the project and correct whatever defects.

The said project has a total budget of P14,100,000 allocated by the city government wherein P4,340,431 or 30.78% was paid to the contractor.

Residents in the areas said they heard a loud cracking noise around 11 pm on Nov. 11, 2022.

The mayor immediately conducted an inspection of what happened to the ongoing project undertaken by MBM Construction.

Dadivas said about 150 meters of the Roxas City Riverside Promenade was damaged.

Phase 3 of the project is scheduled to finish before Dec. 8, 2022, in time for Roxas City’s fiesta.