DREAM ROAD. Jimboy Panustan, a 34-year-old farmer, walks along a newly opened road section in Jipapad, Eastern Samar to cross the boundary of Eastern Samar and Northern Samar provinces. The road linking Eastern Samar and Northern Samar provinces gets PHP100 million this year for the concreting of a 1.3-kilometer section of the proposed highway. (PNA photo by Roel Amazona)
JIPAPAD, Eastern Samar – A road project linking Eastern Samar and Northern Samar provinces will receive an additional PHP100-million fund this year, to be used in concreting a 1.3-kilometer section of the proposed highway.
House Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan said on Monday that aside from concreting, the additional budget will fund slope protection structures and the construction of drainage systems to prevent erosion.
The section up for opening and concreting forms part of the 24.34-kilometer new road network on the Eastern Samar side.
It is meant to connect to Northern Samar through the Las Navas-Catubig Road, which has a total length of 53.60 kilometers.
The project has so far been allocated PHP2.7 billion.
“Aside from a significant reduction in travel time, the new road is designed to provide safe and reliable access to the remote villages of Jipapad and Las Navas, promoting economic development and improving the lives of rural communities,” the 4PS Party-list representative and native of Taft, Eastern Samar said in an interview.
Jipapad and Las Navas are among the poorest towns in Eastern Visayas, known for sightings of rebels and armed encounters between government forces and New People’s Army rebels.
In a statement, Jipapad Mayor Benjamin Ver said the completion of the road project will spur economic development since their town will become a major transportation hub for those traveling to Eastern Samar or heading to Luzon.
“I am thankful on behalf of the people of Jipapad because this is the realization of our dream that will benefit our future generations,” Ver said.
Jimboy Panustan, 34, a farmer, is thrilled about the road project.
Once a week, Panustan hikes from their house in the upland village of San Francisco in Las Navas to San Juan, Jipapad to do farming.
He leaves his house at 9 a.m. and arrives at the farm at 3 p.m.
“We don’t have to walk and carry our produce if the road is already concrete. We have been suffering for years because of the absence of roads,” Panustan said.
The completion of the project will reduce travel time from Borongan City to Allen Port from five hours to just three hours.
Allen is the exit point for Samar Island to Luzon, while Borongan City is the provincial capital of Eastern Samar. (PNA)
