By Vincent P. Grecia
Pressure is mounting to find who is accountable for the construction of the PhP 680 million Ungka Flyover which has been rendered “useless” due to the “sinking” of its piers.
Aside from earlier calls for legislative investigations both in the lower and upper houses of Congress, several complaints have been lodged at the Office of the Ombudsman by certain groups.
Iloilo City Councilor Plaridel Nava and his group trooped to the Ombudsman Visayas office in Iloilo City to file charges against former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) 6 regional director Tiburcio Canlas; incumbent DPWH 6 regional director Engr. Nerie Bueno; Assistant Regional Director Engr. Jose Al Fruto; Project Engr. Ormel Santos; and contractor International Builders Corporation (IBC) officials Helen Edith Lee Tan, Allen Son Tan and several John Does.
Charges of Gross Neglect of Duty, Grave Misconduct, kag Conduct Prejudicial to the Best Interest of Public Service were filed by Nava and company which was supported by cause-oriented groups.
Lawyer and former Iloilo City councilor Eldrid Antiquera also wrote a letter to Office of the Ombudsman asking for an investigation on the anomalies surrounding the Ungka Flyover.
Antiquiera told the media that he wanted the Ombudsman to push the DPWH 6 to release its documents in relation to the Ungka flyover project, which sits on the border between Iloilo City and Pavia, Iloilo.
Meanwhile, the United Filipino Consumers and Commuters (UFCC) led by Consumer Rights advocate Rodolfo Javellana Jr. released a manifesto joining public clamor for accountability relative to the defective project.
UFCC pointed that the problem could be traced to the Bureau of Designs of the Department of Public Works & Highways (DPWH) Central Office and the United Technology Consolidated Partnership (UTCP), the firm commissioned to do the design and conduct of soil testing.
DPWH Regional Office 6 were “merely” handed the Final Design then tasked to do the bidding, construction oversight and quality control, it said.
“Congress should heed the call of the People of Iloilo to look into the accountability of DPWH Central Office for approving the faulty design of the Ungka Flyover which is sinking based on the findings of third-party consultant…”
“…the geotechnical consultancy firm commissioned by the DPWH central office to design the flyover that was based on their soil-testing should be questioned by lawmakers for the faulty design which the Central Office cascaded to DPWH in Region 6 for implementation,” excerpts of the manifesto reads.
UFCC added: “…it was clearly not part of the scope of work of the local contractor (International Builders Corporation) to conduct soil testing as it was already accomplished by the UTCP.”
