Survey of 30-M Sagada road on amidst opposition

By Gina Dizon

SAGADA, Mountain Province -- While the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for 2019 is still being deliberated for approval, the previously contested diversion road at the Mission Compound here four years ago was identified for construction and again the subject of opposition.  

Survey of a P30 million by-pass road is ongoing by personnel from the Mountain Province First District Engineering Office (MPDEO)  following a meeting last week with authorities of the Church of St Mary the Virgin (CSMV), the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Philippines (EDNP) and the congressional office of Mountain Province Congressional Caretaker Jesse Allen Mangaoang.

Project site is located within the premises of CSMV and titled property of EDNP.

Meant to ease traffic, P18 million was set for construction work and P12 million as payment for road right of way to compensate affected lot owners within a  road project.  

In an interview, Planning officer engineer Artemio Guisala  of  the Mountain Province First District Engineering Office said the by-pass road opens from the section in between the Girls’ Dormitory Building and the Centrum building at the central part of town along the national road.

The road plan intends to follow the borders of the church property near the Centrum building down to the Girls Dormitory to Sitio Deccan to Sitio Sayocsoc and Daoangan and joins a section of the  Dantay-Sagada road at Daoangan.   

Construction is projected to start at Daoangan entering Tangeb of the Mission Compound on to the borders of the church property along Sayocsoc canal towards Centrum.

In an interview, MPDEO District Engineer Alexander Castaneda said a congregational consultation shall be held after the program of work shall be done following results of the survey.

This, along with other available documents as Environmental Compliance Certificate( ECC).

The consultation shall serve as part of the process to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) as required in the introduction of projects in indigenous peoples areas.

The road plan covers a 10- meter width to include gutter, curve and sidewalk and some 870 meters in length. Slope protection walls are designed to be included in the program of work, Castaneda said.   

The earlier diversion road project was then heavily contested by the public four years ago due to reasons including the safety of  school children at the kinder school located adjacent the Girls Dormitory and a sink hole at Sitio Kengeka along proposed road.

One option for the road way being eyed by the public is the rugged road going towards Sitio Latang below the Church of SMV on towards Echo Valley information center and follow existing road towards the soccer ground.

In  an interview EDNP  Bishop Brent Alawas  however said he is not in favor of the road being built at Latang as Latang is locate at the center of the Mission Compound making the area a vulnerable site for road openings should there be a road opening there. 

Bishop Alawas expressed his disapproval on the Latang section of the church as a route of the proposed by-pass road in said meeting last week.

Another route being eyed follows the existing road adjacent the church. 

This, as CSMV congregation members said  say motorists shall disturb church  services.

Strong sentiments from Sagadians both local and staying abroad stated their disagreement particularly in Facebook against the opening of the by- pass road inside the Mission Compound.

Kim Ledesma, administrator of St Mary’s School said, “It is not just opening the Center of the Church to the public. It is also putting at risk the life and health of the students of St. Mary's School and the other people using the Mission Compound. Tangeb is a safer route going to and from school/work.”

Sagada resident Celia Peñaflor from the lowlands and married to a Sagada native referred to the Mission Compound “as the only sanctuary left in the middle of poblacion, the only space where children can run to their heart's content without getting worried of vehicles passing by, a refuge or a respite from the hustle and bustle of tourism and daily life. Preserving this place as it is the best legacy we can give to our children and the next generations.”

Sagada native and US resident Hilda Aquino who has a house near the borders of the Mission compound at sitio Daoangan, said the Mission Compound be maintained and preserved.

 “Let's look beyond for the benefit of future generations and to keep Sagada live its legacy as the unique, natural beauty of the North. Likewise, let's establish and strictly enforce tourism policies to control the traffic, the trash and waste over congestion of tourists.”

Sagada resident Ellen Gawigawen  who lives at Sitio Deccan near the borders of the Mission Compound  expressed  disapproval on the construction of the planned by- pass road due to the unstable state of their immediate environs.  

Gawigawen recalled,  “In 1958 when we moved there, the Kinder grounds was very much higher where a stonewall was found after the canal.”

Other sections of the public suggest the transfer of the 30 million road project to somewhere else.

Some eye the road from Maduto-Mabisil-Suyo going towards Batalao-Antadao and joining the Dantay-Sagada Road  near the Kiltepan  junction for road project instead to be relocated.

Another road opening long projected in town is the Patay-Dagdag-Demang road  from the Sagada-Besao road above Bomabanga down to the sections near the Sagada elementary and secondary schools, follow the  canal route and join the existing Demang road.

Though other sections of the community say there are too many roads already in town, thus to make Sagada a walk town instead.

Meantime, a P3.2 million road rehabilitation project from the Paytokan Gate fronting the Coop building towards the existing road to St Mary’s School is teh subject of solicitation being done by some congregation of CSMV. 

With the developments introduced in the church property,  Sagada resident and member of the congregation of  CSMV, Ben Longid proposed “the necessity of a master development plan for the Mission Compound so that all projects within such as roads, orchards, retreat areas are properly prioritized and situated.”

The Mission Compound was endorsed as a Heritage Site by the CSMV congregation to the ENDP convention  three years ago and favored by Bishop Alawas.