Mt. Province economy reeling due to road cut

By Dexter A. See

BONTOC, Mountain Province — Economic activities in this capital town and other municipalities in the province are reeling having been greatly affected for more than two weeks due to a huge mountain slide along the Halsema highway here at Barangay Gonogon that has not yet been cleared.

Engineer Alexander Castaneda, assistant regional director of the Department of Public Works and Highways, said the slide, caused by heavy and continuous rains, was more than 100 meters in height and damaged 80 to 90 meters of the highway.

Castaneda said government crew and private contractors are working to clear the slide.

He added the agency is doing its best to open the road but heavy rains are preventing them from immediately opening up the road.

The site of the huge mountain slide is part of the multi-million Halsema highway rehabilitation project, particularly the Mount Data to Bontoc section that is placed under phase 2 of the project.

Since the slide occurred, stranded commuters from this capital town and its environs had to use routes like the Bontoc-Banaue road or Cagayan Valley roads before going to Baguio city through the newly rehabilitated Benguet-Nueva Vizcaya road.

On the other hand, thousands of commuters riding mass transport vehicles have to walk on an alternative foot trail established for the purpose to ride in waiting vehicles in Gonogon,

Economic activities in towns have caused difficulty among traders and sales agents to transport goods to the town which is the center of business activity in the province.

Because of the difficulty in the transport of goods, prices of basic commodities increased because delivery trucks had to take the long route through Ifugao province to bring goods to the capital town resulting in increased transportation cost of the products.

Castaneda could not give a specific date when the road will be opened to vehicular traffic, citing that the bad weather prevailing in the province is causing the serious delays in the completion of the huge volume of debris that fell from a mountainous portion of the road and blocked the same thereby depriving motorists smooth travel in and out of the province.

The Halsema highway has been described as the main road of the Cordillera because it connects Baguio City, Benguet, Mountain Province and ifugao thereby having a total road length of at least 180 kilometers.

The slide site is considered part of the geologically hazardous portion of the Halsema highway because of its highly fractured rock and soil formation aggravated by the lack of trees to hold on to the debris.