DPWH rolls out P131-M tourism roads in Leyte

CARIGARA, Leyte, July 3 -- The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has embarked on PHP131 million major road projects leading to tourist destination in central Leyte this year.

DPWH Leyte 2nd district engineering office chief Carlos Veloso in an interview Monday said tourists may expect better roads going to tourist sites with the construction of more access roads.

The project started May this year and will be completed before the end of 2018.

One of the road projects leads to the Villaconzoilo Agri and Eco Tourism Farm and Silawa Falls located in Villaconzoilo village in Jaro town. The project has a funding requirement of PHP85 million.
Villaconzoilo, an upland village, seven kilometers from the town center, offers farm tourism and is fast becoming a favorite tourist destination among locals and foreigners.

Through the farmers’ organization, Villa Conzoilo Community Association, it produces high-value crops, including lettuce, broccoli, carrots, cauliflowers, rambutan, radish, asparagus, grapes and strawberries which are sold in shopping malls and hotels in the region.

The village, with a population of almost 400, is near Mount Amandewing or the Alto Peak, considered the highest point of the province and endowed with natural wonders and pristine and unspoiled environment.

On the other hand, Silawa Falls is nature’s jewel hemmed beside cloud-capped mountain ranges.

Wild animals roam its surrounding forest and it is home to endangered species both flora and fauna including insects, butterflies, deer, wild boar, monkeys and different types of birds from the Central Amandewing mountain ranges.

Another tourism road project in the pipeline this year is the access road leading to Calabato Hot Spring in La Paz town, which will cost PHP46 million.

Untouched and undeveloped, few venture to explore the rough terrains going to the spring. A regular trek usually takes four to six hours starting from the town proper which deters tourists from visiting the place.

Paving the road is seen to increase tourism for Calabato in all its roughness.

“The road project is vitally important for the dispersal of tourists beyond major gateways and the facilitation of self-drive tourism,” Veloso said.

Veloso likewise vowed to implement infrastructure projects geared towards bringing livelihood and development to the countryside.
The DPWH has secured the backing of the national government in funding tourism support programs, allowing local communities dependent on tourism to earn more. (LAAA/PNA)