Iloilo City council to lead inquiry on Ungka flyover

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

The transportation committee of the Sangguniang Panglungsod of Iloilo City will lead an inquiry into the situation at the Ungka flyover along the city’s border with Pavia, Iloilo on Friday, October 7.

Committee chairperson, Councilor Sedfrey Cabaluna, said that they have secured the attendance of Department of Public Works and Highways-Region 6 (DPWH-6) Assistant Regional Director Jose Al Fruto and other officials.

They also invited lawmakers from the towns of Pavia, San Miguel, Oton, and Leganes, as well as his counterpart in the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Iloilo, Board Member Ramon Sullano (Ex-officio, Philippine Councilors League).

Cabaluna said that they would ask DPWH-6 about the current state of the flyover, including the exact repair procedures and the timeline.

“We’d like to get an update now on what [the DPWH-6] is doing, how long it would take, and get from their mouth, categorically, if this is a regular occurrence. We’d like to know if they are still in control of the situation and whether this can be addressed and fixed for the public welfare,” Cabaluna said after the city council’s regular session on Wednesday.

He added that while they have invited International Builders Corporation (IBC), the contractor for the flyover project, he cited DPWH-6’s assertion of their responsibility.

“[The DPWH-6] said that it was their responsibility, citing that the design was theirs but was being implemented [by the IBC]. If there are concerns, they are the ones deciding what to do with them. They said that they are taking on the whole responsibility, but we’ll still invite [IBC],” he said.

The city councilor recognized that the Ungka flyover, being a national government project, they can only make recommendations to the DPWH regional and national officials based on the outcome of the inquiry.

Pavia councilor Jose Maria Trimañez, chairperson of the town’s transportation committee, confirmed his attendance at the investigation in a phone interview with Daily Guardian.

He vowed to ask a lot of questions to Fruto, who was represented by field engineers during their own hearing last September 28.

The DPWH-6’s representatives were not able to answer several key questions from town councilors over the Ungka flyover’s current state, citing instructions to defer deeper inquiries to Fruto.

“We’re going to ask them the timeline of the repairs, and we’re going to ask them how can we help them. Is there any legislative action that they need?” Trimañez said in a phone interview.

“We’re also going to ask about the physical structure of the flyover. Is the design of the DPWH-6 conformed with specifications? The Ungka flyover has small ‘waves’ when people pass. Is that the new standard of basic engineering, that the surface is wavy? Even the walls, is this the design?” he added.

The P680-million flyover, situated at barangays Ungka in Iloilo City’s Jaro district and Ungka Dos in Pavia town, was temporarily closed in mid-September after Daily Guardian reported on public complaints over multiple bumps that give a “wavy” feel to motorists and passengers, as well as flooding even in the higher areas of the flyover.

DG also reported that three piers or foundations of the flyover were manifesting “vertical displacement” or were sinking for still unknown reasons.

Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas said earlier this week that DPWH-6 needs 45 days for the shoring and ground reinforcement works.

Fruto told Daily Guardian last week that they would need at least three weeks for the shoring, a temporary solution that entails the installation of support beams around the sinking piers before the jet grouting or reinforcement of the piers by injecting concrete into its base.