A ROAD is Southern Leyte, which was blocked by landslide debris for almost a week, was opened to traffic at noon on Sunday, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said on Monday.
DPWH Southern Leyte District Engineer Maria Margarita C. Junia said, however, that while the road in Barangay Kahupian in Sogod town is already passable, the agency still placed warning signs to caution motorists of potential landslides.
An estimated 2,500 cubic meters of landslide debris blocked the road on January 16 in Kahupian, just 1.5 kilometers away from the all-weather Agas-Agas Bridge.
“We rushed to clear the highway, but it took time, since removal efforts were hampered by heavy rains, poor visibility and mud continued to pour down,” Junia said.
Gideon Sacro, chief of the DPWH Southern Leyte maintenance section, reported that a lot of motorists insisted on using the road even if it were closed to traffic. The road section is a vital link from Luzon to Mindanao as part of the nautical highway’s eastern seaboard route.
With the road’s closure, Mindanao-bound buses and trucks had to pass through the longer route of Baybay City-Bato-Bontoc Road to get to Liloan or San Ricardo ports in Southern Leyte. Another alternative is the Abuyog-Silago Road.
A low pressure area and tail end of a cold front that dumped heavy rains in the region triggered landslides and rockslides in the area last week.