[ Manila Bulletin Online ] April 29, 2008
BAGUIO CITY – Officials of the Department of Transportation and Communication (DoTC) and the Federation of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines (FEJODAP) ordered groups feuding over the closure of Kennon road to inter-regional traffic to settle their differences.
The order came down in a recent dialogue after the issue was brought to their attention as concerned parties urged the DoTC and FEJODAP to intervene and settle the issue.
Pending the result of the forthcoming round of meetings, vans are now allowed to traverse the 34-kilometer historic zigzag road.
Last Sept. 1, 2007, lawyer Federico Mandapat Jr. issued an order banning vans and mini buses from traversing Kennon Road due to purported safety issues. He said the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) in the Cordillera had declared 85 percent of the road geologically hazardous.
The order created an uproar among the affected sectors and local officials of Benguet, saying that such an order was allegedly tainted with irregularity and was aimed at vans and buses but not private vehicles traversing Kennon Road.
Despite a series of dialogues to iron out problems brought about by the controversial ban, no significant development was reached, forcing the transport sector to elevate the matter to higher authorities.
The Cordillera Van Federation, Inc., which is composed of at least 500 units, DoTC and FEJODAP officials came up with a consensus to sit down here and create a regional framework that will govern the safety of roads leading to the city and other parts of the Cordillera.
Benguet provincial officials argued that Kennon Road is safe in as far as the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is concerned.
Based on a DPWH report, 90 percent of the accidents happening along Kennon Road are due to mechanical and human error and a measly percentage attributed to the condition of the road.
At the same time, the MGB-Cordillera Autonomous Region also made a clarification on their earlier report stating that 85 percent of Kennon Road was geologically hazardous during the rainy season because water seeps into the highly-fractured rock formations which eventually results in landslides and rockslides.
However, it said the road is considered safe to vehicular traffic during the dry months because of the absence of water that causes rocks and soil to fall down the mountain slopes.
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