Three Strikes: Ungka, Aganan, and now Buhang

When Public Works and Highways Secretary Vince Dizon stood before the skeleton of the Aganan Flyover on Monday and called the five-year delay “nakakainis” (annoying), he was understating the obvious.

But this is not simply annoying; it is a systemic failure of governance and engineering that has held Iloilo City and province hostage for half a decade.

Now, with another PHP 229 million allocated to finish the job, the narrative has shifted to deadlines. We are told this will be a “Christmas gift” from the President to the Ilonggos in 2026. We need to stop this rhetoric immediately. Infrastructure is not a benevolence granted by leaders; it is a service purchased by taxpayers. Framing a functional bridge as a “gift” trivializes the public crisis we’ve endured. We have paid for this infrastructure twice – once with our taxes, and again with years of traffic misery and lost productivity.

See the trail of gifting when it comes to these three flyovers. Former Senator Franklin Drilon considered it his gift and legacy as he stepped down from power. Former DPWH-Western Visayas Regional Director Sanny Boy Oropel pledged the same Christmas gift in 2024 on the finishing and reopening of the sinking Ungka flyover. That pledge was also made before Drilon during a press conference at the DPWH regional office.

Now, it’s Dizon’s turn to promise a gift for the equally problematic Aganan flyover.

While Dizon’s commitment to safety – specifically seeking a second opinion from a foreign consultant—is the right technical move to avoid a disaster, the political framing is all wrong. A finished bridge in 2026 does not erase the negligence that got us here.

The “who” matters infinitely more than the “when.”

Consider the facts: The Aganan project stalled because the original designer, United Technology Consolidated Partnership (UTCP), allegedly underestimated the stable soil depth at 20-24 meters, when DPWH tests required 54 meters. That is not a margin of error; that is a chasm of incompetence. If UTCP and the contractor, IBC International Builders Corporation, are responsible for these flaws, why are we only talking about construction timelines? We need to see blacklist orders. If a firm cannot tell the difference between 20 meters and 54 meters of soil depth, they have no business bidding on government contracts ever again.

The situation is even grimmer at the nearby Buhang Flyover. Just two years after opening, the PHP 315 million structure is shedding debris and cracking. Secretary Dizon ordered the contractor, F. Gurrea Construction, to fix it at “no cost” to the government.

Let’s be clear: “No cost” repairs are not a penalty; they are the bare minimum of a warranty. If the only consequence for substandard work is being told to fix it after chunks of concrete fall on the road, contractors are incentivized to cut corners, hoping the cracks don’t show until after the bond expires. The DPWH 6 system is dangerously reactive, catching flaws only when they become visible hazards rather than during the engineering phase.

Secretary Dizon is right to prioritize safety over speed this time. We cannot afford another rushed “holiday deadline” like the Buhang flyover, which is now crumbling. But the best gift the government can give Ilonggos isn’t a ribbon-cutting ceremony in December 2026. It is accountability.

Finish the project, yes. Pay the landowners the right-of-way compensation they have been denied for too long. But more importantly, prosecute the incompetence.

A “Christmas gift” implies charity. We don’t want charity; we want the competence we paid for.