NEW LINK. A portion of the newly concreted road in Basey, Samar leading to Maydolong, Eastern Samar. Logging roads will be used in the ongoing construction of the PHP3.31 billion Basey-Maydolong Road to reduce the number of trees that will be uprooted in the construction of a new highway meant to link this city to Borongan, the capital of Eastern Samar province. (Photo courtesy of DPWH Region 8)
TACLOBAN CITY – Old logging roads will be used in the ongoing construction of the PHP3.31 billion Basey-Maydolong Road to reduce the number of trees that will be uprooted in the construction of a new highway meant to link this city to Borongan, the capital of Eastern Samar province.
Officials from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) agreed to alter the site of the road opening project to spare naturally grown trees from being cut down.
House Minority Leader and 4Ps Party-list Rep. Marcelino Libanan, who initiated the coordination meeting between two agencies on Wednesday, said roads used by loggers in the 1970s and 1980s are ideal for road construction.
“These roads were used by trucks, and they are still existing today. We sent a team from my office, DPWH, and DENR to check the logging road and take videos,” said Libanan, a native of Eastern Samar province.
Citing the assessment report, he said the proposed road will be longer by 2.7 kilometers and will require the construction of an 80-meter bridge.
“We want to get the revised overall plan and cost of the project and present it to House Speaker Martin Romualdez. We want this project to be completed by 2028,” Libanan added.
Lormelyn Claudio, DENR regional executive director, confirmed that the site is within the Borongan-Lllorente Closed Canopy Forest.
“The closed canopy is within the strict protection zone. If we want to boost tourism through this road network, it is good that we keep the forest intact,” Claudio added.
Within the closed canopy forest is an old-growth rainforest dominated by critically endangered, endangered, and vulnerable species of the dipterocarp family. It is also identified as a nesting site for the critically endangered Philippine Eagle, according to UNESCO.
Assessment is still ongoing to find out how many trees will be affected by the road project.
DPWH Eastern Visayas Regional Director Edgar Tabacon said the national government has already released PHP1.33 billion for the project from 2016 until this year.
The released budget allowed the DPWH to open and concrete 22.21 kilometers of road traversing mountains between two Samar provinces.
This project will link the provinces of Eastern Samar and Samar provinces, and will serve as the shortest route from Tacloban City to Borongan City. This reduces the travel time from four hours via Basey-Marabut-Balangiga Road to two hours via Basey-Maydolong Road.
“Aside from being the shortest route from Tacloban City going to Borongan City, the project is also a continuation of the tourism road leading to Borongan-Llorente Closed Canopy in Eastern Samar Side and San Juanico-Basey Sohoton Road in Samar,” Tabacon told reporters.
The project, which is 24.60 percent complete, still needs PHP1.98 billion. The budget requirement will be adjusted given the proposed changes in length.
To date, travelers from Eastern Samar have two road options to get to Tacloban City: the Paranas-Taft Road and the Borongan-Quinapundan-Lawaan-Marabut-Basey Road.
Borongan is 190 kilometers away from Tacloban through the existing shortest route, passing the towns of Basey and Marabut before reaching the Eastern Samar border.
This road will also ease the accessibility problem during heavy rainfall when the Buray-Taft Road is closed to traffic due to floods and landslides.
The Basey-Maydolong Road on the Samar side passes through Wespal village in Basey town, where two of the top tourist destinations in Basey town are situated. These are the jump-off areas to Sohoton Cave and the entrance to Balantak Falls.
Basey town is just 42 kilometers away from Tacloban, the regional capital, while Maydolong town is only 21 kilometers away from Borongan, the capital of Eastern Samar province. (PNA)
