DPWH has ‘authority’ to close Kennon

By Dexter A. See

BAGUIO CITY — The authority to give traffic advisory on the condition of Kennon Road, the scenic zigzag route to this mountain resort city, is vested in the Department of

Public Works and Highways, not the Department of Transportation and Communications.
This assertion was made by engineer Mariano Alquiza, Cordillera DPWH director, who said Kennon Road, being a national road, is under the jurisdiction of the DPWH.

He said the DOTC regulates vehicles, but not the use of national roads, and no government agency, except the DPWH, could close national roads to vehicular traffic.

Under DPWH guidelines, a national road could be closed to vehicular or pedestrian traffic only when there is eminent danger to life and property or by the order of the President.

Alquiza said that up to the present, lawyer Federico Mandapat Jr., Cordillera DOTC director, has not acted on his earlier request for him to recall an order rerouting traffic of inter-regional vehicles to Marcos Highway.

Earlier, Mandapat denied the request of the Benguet provincial board to recall his memorandum banning inter-regional public utility vehicles on Kennon Road, saying that his order is not intended to cause suffering and inconvenience among the residents alongside the road, but to pave the way for an improved transport system in the region.

The DOTC official said that his memorandum stands for the sake of the safety of motorists, noting the allegedly unstable condition of Kennon Road.

Provincial officials had called on the DOTC to immediately recall the controversial order because of public clamor.

Consequently, officials of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau in the Cordillera said Kennon Road is hazardous to the motoring public only during the rainy season because of falling rocks, soil erosions and landslides especially when there is a downpour.

But Alquiza said they have a policy to close the whole stretch of Kennon Road to all types of vehicles during two hours of continuous rains.

It is a safety precaution to prevent the occurrence of accidents which might result in loss of lives and damage to properties, he said.

Kennon Road is the shortest route from the lowlands to this city and vice versa. It was built during the early 1900s by thousands of Filipino, American and Japanese workers.

Alquiza said he was confident that the DPWH and DOTC would come to terms relative to policies on road regulations.