The concreting and widening of Palawan’s national highway is almost complete, especially in the southern part of the province, 2nd District Rep. Jose Alvarez said.
He said most of the circumferential roads that connect the countryside in his district are nearly finished, and once completed, travel across southern Palawan will be easier.
“Sa 2nd District, kokonti na lang ang hindi pa nasemento. Yung galing sa Canipaan (Rizal) papuntang Sumbiling (Bataraza) sementado na pati yung tulay doon. Meron na lang tatlong kilometro na hindi pa sementado,” Alvarez said in a briefing with media last Saturday.
“(Yung) Canipaan papuntang Buliluyan, yun ang hopefully in the next three years masemento na para makaikot na sa buong south,” he added.
He explained that aside from school buildings, the majority of priority infrastructure projects in the province’s 2nd Congressional District are barangay roads, farm-to-market roads, and other arterial roads leading to IP villages, government facilities, and tourism sites.
This includes cross-country roads from Pulot Interior in Sofronio Española to Tagusao, Quezon, which he said are also nearing completion.
He said he had requested about ₱3 billion for the projects, but due to recent anomalies, particularly involving flood control projects, all congressmen’s requests were reduced, so it would be fortunate if he receives an allocation of ₱2.2 billion.
He also explained that the Department of Public Works and Highways is continuously implementing the widening of the national highway and bridges into four to six lanes every year, which will soon include streetlights.
“Ang priority ko ngayon, palaparan yung mga tulay which meron pang 20 na palaparan pa. At sunod doon yung pailaw, nakita nyo naman yun, galing Narra papuntang Rizal, Brooke’s Point at Bataraza iniilawan na,” he said, once again noting that because of the flood control fiasco, the street-lighting project was also affected and will face a slight delay.
