Baguio City Congressman Mark Go presented House Bill 6491 he authored during the Senate hearing of the Committee on Public Works chaired by Sen. Manny Pacquiao on October 8.
Go stressed the importance of transforming Kennon Road, one of the oldest and shortest route leading to Baguio City, into an all-weather road grounded on a comprehensive and scientific study.
Once signed into law, Go said the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will implement the highway’s full rehabilitation and maintenance. The road work will cover parts of Kennon Road traversing the barangays of Camps 1 to 6 in Tuba, Benguet and Camps 7 and 8 in Baguio City.
“Ang Kennon Road, kailangan maging all-weather road, passable any time, safe at walang problema kahit na umuulan,” Go said in an interview.
Go assured that there is no conflict or overlap with the scope of work with the initial agreement with the Office of Cong. Go since the bill covers the total rehabilitation from Camp 1 to Camp 8 with the DPWH as the implementing agency.
“What we wanted was an honest to goodness total rehabilitation of Kennon Road and this is provided for in my HB 6491. Our goal is basically to have an all-weather, passable, and safe road at all times and free from landslides,” Go said.
He also noted that Kennon Road is site of numerous accidents caused by landsides particularly during typhoons and heavy rains. He added that the road also remains to be a “close-open” road due to several engineering works being undertaken along the roadline.
The Cordillera Regional DRRM Council headed by OCD-CAR Director Albert Mogol with the DPWH-CAR has been conducting inspection of Kennon Road’s ongoing projects including its critical sections even during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As per DPWH, Kennon Road is open for residents within the area only. (JDP/RMC -PIA-CAR)
By Redjie Melvic Cawis