4 Mountain Province roads classified national in status

BONTOC, Mountain Province — The House committee on public works favorably endorsed the conversion of four provincial roads into national roads to ensure the provision of more funding support that will enhance the development of inter-provincial and inter-municipal roads to spur economic development in the countryside.

The roads which were approved for conversion into national roads include the Mountain Province – Benguet road via Guinsadan – Mankayan section, Abatan – Maba-ay road, Mountain Province – Isabela road and the Mountain Province – Ifugao road otherwise known as Tuboy road.

The House committee on appropriations issued a certificate of availability of funds for the maintenance funds that will be used by the national government in ensuring maintenance of the roads so these will be open to vehicular traffic even during rainy and typhoon seasons.

Once local roads will be converted into national status, maintenance of the same will be under the jurisdiction of the Department of Public Works and Highways, particularly the Mountain Province Engineering District.

Benguet Rep. Ronald M. Cosalan, chairman of the House committee on public works, said conversion of local roads into national roads will improve roads and cut travel time.

On the other hand, the House of Representatives approved the creation of a second engineering district for Mountain Province that will help speed up the development of the province’s roads considering the separate allocations for the said office.

Before the creation of the second engineering district, the MPED will be establishing a sub-office that will cater to the needs of the eastern towns of Sadanga, Barlig, Natonin and Paracelis where a three-storey building will be constructed to immediately attend to the needs of their clientele in the area.

To qualify for the creation of another engineering district office for a province, it must have at least a total of 250 kilometers of national roads.

Cosalan added converting local roads to national roads will help the provincial government in utilizing its meager funds for the implementation of other priority infrastructure projects, especially in rural areas and leave the burden to the national government in maintaining the same considering the existence of numerous sources of revenues that could be spared for the purpose.