BONTOC, Mountain Province - Economic activities in this capital town and its environs have been greatly affected for over a week now after the occurrence of a huge mountain slide along the stretch of the Halsema highway, particularly in Gonogon, Sabangan town which has not yet been cleared despite relentless efforts to do so.
Engr. Alexander Castaneda, assistant regional director of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in the Cordillera, described the mountain slide to be more than 100 meters in height and damaged 80 to 90 meters of the highways during heavy and continuous rains over the past several days.
Castaneda said that the government crew and some private contractors are working round the clock, except during heavy rains to clear the road from the huge slide.
Castaneda said the agency is doing all their best to open up the road but the gravity of the slide coupled with the occurrence of continuous heavy rains is preventing them from immediately opening up the road, thus, they are appealing to motorists for proper understanding.
The site of the huge mountain slide is part of the multi-million Halsema highway rehabilitation project, particularly along the Mount Data to Bontoc section that is placed under phase 2 of the project.
When the mountain slide occurred, stranded commuters from this capital town and its environs have to use routes like travelling forts to Ifugao province via the Bontoc-Banaue road then traverse the 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 in order to ride waiting vehicles in Gonogon which causes inconveniences to them.
Worst, the economic activities in the different towns have already been greatly prejudiced which 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 have started to increase because delivery trucks have to take the long route through Ifugao province just to bring the supply of goods to the capital town thereby 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 aorta 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 mudslide site is considered to be 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.
