Regional director rebuffed; project back to original intent: DPWH Sec Singson suspends P100M Sagada road bidding

By Gina Dizon

SAGADA, Mountain Province - Highways Secretary Rogelio Singson has ordered Cordillera DPWH regional director Edilberto Carabaccan to suspend bidding of the controversial P100 million Sabangan-Sagada road  project via Madepdeppas and its realignment to the originally intended via Balili route.

           

Members of the Sangguniang Bayan here bared this following a meeting with DPWH officials.

Vice Mayor Richard Yodong said Singson promised to stop the bidding of the project saying he favored the Balili route  after going through documents including the recent report of the  Nov. 21 validation team finding no tourist spot along the Madepdeppas  road.

The Sabangan-Sagada via Madepdeppas route is the road insisted by Carabaccan reportedly up for bidding.   

The Madepdeppas road starts from the provincial Sabangan junction then ascends to Medepdepas  to the Bangnin junction ending  above barangay Taccong, Sagada passing through a single  lane concrete pavement and a gravel and dirt road. Between barangay Suyo  and Taccong, Sagada  is the Inakang  River.

Yodong said engineers from DPWH regional office are currently conducting survey activities along the  Balili-Suyo road originally proposed by the Sagada SB  in their 2011 resolution to  Singson requesting extension of the Dantay-Sagada road to the Balili-Suyo road joining the Bontoc-Baguio road.   

The validation team composed of personnel from the Department of Tourism, DPWH and National Economic  Development Authority strongly recommended the Sabangan-Sagada road should start construction from the end of the national road at the Sumaguing Cave section in Sagada to serve as primary access to the Balangagan Marcos Cave at Barangay Taccong and other tourist spots in Barangay Suyo, Sagada.

Earlier, Carabaccan set aside the resolution of the SB  requesting  the DPWH regional head to prepare  program of work for the  Sabangan-Sagada via Balili route. 

Carabaccan instead pursued on to bidding the P100 million road project via Madepdeppas  while validation was  ongoing.

Sagada Councilor Francis Kilongan said with the turn of  events, the intent of  Sagada’s SB  sees realization and shall boost the tourism industry of the town while highlighting other tourist spots along the Balili, Bontoc route.