ILOILO City – The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Region 6 rushed to repair the pothole-riddled road intersection beneath the Ungka Flyover following complaints from motorists and commuters.
On Wednesday night, Feb. 11, in coordination with project contractor International Builders Corporation (IBC), DPWH scraped the damaged asphalt overlay of the intersection and introduced new overlays.
“Motorists are advised to exercise caution when passing through the area,” DPWH-6 said in an advisory.
The latest repairs added to the long and costly history of the four-lane, 453.7-meter Ungka Flyover, which was initially constructed in January 2020 and opened to traffic in the first week of September 2022 — only to be shut down two weeks later after engineers detected vertical displacement.
Originally priced at P680 million, the flyover’s total cost ballooned after structural issues surfaced.
Phase 1 of the rectification works, amounting to P95 million, was awarded to Monolithic Construction & Concrete Products, Inc.
Phase 2, which covered jet grouting of the remaining flyover piers and installation of geofoam in unstable sections, carried a P200-million allocation and was handled by IBC — the same firm that built the flyover.
In total, government spending on the Ungka Flyover reached approximately P990 million before it was reopened to full capacity in December 2024.
While DPWH-6 said the latest repairs aim to improve road safety, the recurring need for fixes — even beneath a rehabilitated flyover — is likely to reignite public scrutiny over construction quality, long-term durability, and oversight of one of Iloilo’s most controversial infrastructure projects./PN
