ILAGAN CITY, Isabela—The construction of the P2-billion 82-kilometer Ilagan-Divilacan road, which will link the four coastal towns in the province and passes through the foothills of the Northern Sierra Madre mountain range, is now 50 percent complete, the provincial government said Friday.
“The road that links mainland Ilagan City to the coastal areas will boost the economies of these locales, considering Divilacan’s 119-hectare beach and freshwater areas that have lured tourists,” Gov. Faustino G. Dy III said.
Once the road is completed, it will afford the townsfolk easier access in transporting their merchandise and availing of the basic necessities and social services from the provincial government, Dy stressed.
Vice Governor Antonio “Tonypet” Albano said the road will ease the accessibility of residents in the coastal towns of Palanan, Divilacan, Maconacon and Dinapigue to the mainland.
The road starts in Sindin Bayabo village in Ilagan City and ends in Dicatian village in the coastal town of Divilacan, Albano added.
Lawyer Noel Manuel Lopez, the Provincial Administrator, reiterated there is no existing road that links these areas directly to their neighboring municipalities. Only planes and boats are the available transportation there, which make it more difficult to reach these coastal towns in times of calamity and disasters.
“With this road project, the economy in the coastal areas will improve,” Lopez said.
According to Forester Geronimo Cabaccan, Jr, Environment and Natural Resources Officer during the 2nd Regional Multi-Sectoral Forest Protection Committee meeting here, at least 37 km of the 82-km road project is now accessible.
He said the project, started in March 2016, covers Barangays Cabisera 10 and Sinon Bayabo in City of Ilagan and Barangays Sapinit, Dicambangan, Dicatian and Dimapula in Divilacan.
Geronimo said the project contractor employed 654 total workers to complete the project on time, and 85 percent or 556 laborers came from the local communities.
As of June 22, 2017, road markers and signages and other protective structures along the entire road length were placed to ensure safety, he added.
Perla Visoro, RMFPM chair, said while the project is expected to boost the economies of the coastal areas, the road opening is also a threat because it will allow easier entry of people from nearby towns and provinces who are into kaingin and illegal logging activities.
“I fear the project may damage the protected areas’ rich biodiversity,” said Visoro, a known environmentalist in the Cagayan Valley region.
Geronimo, however, assured the public that the policy and laws on the preservation of the protected areas are implemented. He said they will put up safeguards against illegal activities to ensure that the Sierra Madre will be protected while the road is being built.