The original bridge was destroyed during World War II by retreating Japanese troops and was reconstructed in 1946 by the U.S. and Philippine public works.

In 2019, the City Government of Manila began a rehabilitation project to "restore" the Jones Bridge to its near-original design using Beaux-Arts architecture similar to that of Pont Alexandre III in Paris and the return of the three extant La Madre Filipina sculptures (the 4th requiring reconstruction).

However, upon the passage of the Jones Law, which gave the country autonomy from the United States, Filipino architect Juan M. Arellano took over and finished the bridge's final design.

Arellano commissioned a sculptor named Martinez to build four statues called La Madre Filipina (The Philippine Motherland), which would be placed on the pedestals.

[5][8] Upon its completion, none of its original ornamentation on either piers or balustrades was restored, and its neoclassical aesthetic was replaced with unadorned architecture in an urgent haste to finish its reconstruction.

In 1998, in celebration of the Philippine Centennial Independence, the bridge was partially restored by architect Conrad Onglao, who was commissioned by then-First Lady Amelita Ramos.

[5] During the time of Manila Mayor Lito Atienza, the steel girders were lighted and thematic lamp posts were added onto the bridge, which drew mixed reactions.

Two fu dogs were also added at the base of the bridge's south side, which gave it a Chinese character as opposed to its original neoclassical design.

[9][10] The fourth sculpture destroyed by the war was replicated using the archives of the pre-war Jones Bridge in the National Library of the Philippines.

However, the remaining statues of La Madre Filipina located at the grounds of the Court of Appeals were deemed too fragile to be moved for relocation to their original spots.

[16] In 2012, the Philippine Coast Guard issued a ban on swimming along the Pasig River after three floating bodies were discovered within the vicinity of the bridge.