AUGMENTATION. Additional equipment from the DPWH Region 2 such as this backhoe assists in clearing the national highway in Pancian village, Pagudpud town. According to the DPWH, motorists can take the alternate routes with safety precautions. (Photo courtesy of the DPWH)
LAOAG CITY – The Manila North Road in Barangay Pancian, Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte remains closed on Monday or nine days after a series of landslides blocked the national highway.
Engr. Jocelyn Oamar, spokesperson of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in Region 1, said road clearing operations are ongoing day and night but they have to stop from time to time when another landslide occurs.
“Our maintenance crew is doing their best to clear the highway but it is taking longer than usual due to continues slide,” she said.
She added that the incidental soil/weathered rock movement downward that occurred three times on Sept. 17 also hindered the DPWH team to expedite the clearing operation.
Additional equipment from the DPWH in Region II has already been deployed to augment the clearing operation on the other side of the slide.
Meanwhile, the Ilocos Norte government including the local government unit of Pagudpud has been delivering relief packs and generator sets to aid stranded motorists as well as isolated residents who were off the grid since several electric posts were hit by the landslide covering around 180 meters of the national highway.
Personnel of the Philippine Coast Guard as well as local boatmen are also assisting stranded passengers in the area.
The DPWH said the alternate route for all types of vehicles can be via Ilocos Sur-Abra-Kalinga-Tuguegarao road or via the Ilocos Norte-Apayao road from Ilocos Norte going to provinces in the Cagayan Valley and vice versa.
Motorists, however, are advised to take safety precautions while traveling the alternate routes as the Ilocos Norte-Apayao road is for 4x4 vehicles only and hardly passable for 4x2 vehicles, with three river crossings. (PNA)
