Cordillera nearly completes tourism road projects

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines  – Almost all tourism spots in the Cordillera region are now linked via “tourism roads” built under the tourism and public works department’s joint efforts.

The DPWH-Cordillera said it has  completed 75 percent of all tourism road development projects last year.

Though the remaining road projects still have to contend with problem with communities and individual households occupying areas supposedly intended for road systems.

DPWH-CAR Director Edilberto Carabbacan offered this as the main problem the agency is facing  in some areas in Kalinga and other parts of the Cordillera region.

For the year 2013, P1.015 billion had been spent on tourism road development programs specified by the DOT-CAR in Benguet, Abra, Kalinga, Mt. Province, Ifugao, and the City of Baguio.

Tourism director Purificacion Molintas said the province of Apayao is the least improved in terms of these convergence road projects.

The Department of Tourism set the criteria that each provincial LGU must comply and submit prior to the approval of their proposed road development in their provinces.  

Written documents must be submitted by the each LGU before deliberation for budget approval, and they must adhere completely to be able to qualify for deliberation and approval for the National Budget.

However, most LGUs could not  comply with the road readiness criterion because most of their areas are where the road right of way problems occur, added Molintas. "On top of these, each LGU proposal for tourism road development must also come up and submit statistics of business establishments, tourism activities being conducted in the area among others."

Carabbacan also said that these tourism road development projects are important for each community identified for tourism development and hopes that problems of road right of way will soon be resolved.

For the year 2014, a total of P1.023 billion  budget has been alloted for the DOT-DPWH convergence programs distributed for Baguio City, Benguet, Mt. Province, and Ifuago provinces, said Molintas.