Villa Verde Trail to link Pangasinan and Vizcaya

By Liezle Basa Inigo

SAN NICOLAS, Pangasinan — What used to be a shorter, cooler and history-laden national highway connecting this province of Region 1 (Ilocos) with Nueva Vizcaya in Region 2 (Cagayan Valley), called the Villa Verde Trail, is now being revived by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

This road was delisted by the DPWH-Bureau of Maintenance in the 1980s because of the difficulty in maintaining it and remains closed.

But upon the intervention of 6th District Board Member Ranjit Ramos-Shahani, son of former Sen. Leticia Ramos-Shahani, the road constructed during the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos is now being revived.

Engr. Narchito Arpilleda, administrative officer of the 3rd District Engineering Office (DEO), explained that the road was delisted because it was not readily maintainable and had a low carrying average daily traffic (ADT).

It stretches to 27 kilometers earth road with assumed road right of way of 60 meters for mountainous terrain and a five-meter width.

Engr. Emmanuel Diaz, District Engineer of 3rd DEO, added that its bad condition was aggravated by the 1990 killer earthquake that caused massive road slips and landslides rendering most parts of it impassable.

Since then, many people here had no access road and people were physically divided, some in Maliko, San Nicolas, Pangasinan and others, Sta. Fe, Nueva Vizcaya.

Danilo Bugtong, an indigenous peoples leader, here cited how the road closure has affected their tribe. “Nahati na sa dalawa ang  mga pamilya rito na dati nasa 800 – ang iba nasa bahagi ng San Nicolas, Pangasinan at ang iba naman ay sa Sta. Fe, Nueva Vizcaya kaya dalawa na rin ang barangay hall (The 800 families of our tribe have been split in two – those in San Nicolas in Pangasinan and those in Sta. Fe, Nueva Vizcaya and they are under separate barangay managements)”

He said he has to pass San Jose, Sta. Fe, Nueva Vizcaya to Umingan before reaching his town hall.

“For a private vehicle it takes at least two-and-a-half hours, but if this road reopens it would take less than an hour along the Villa Verde Trail between San Nicolas and Sta. Fe,” he said