BORONGAN CITY, Eastern Samar ? The people of Eastern Samar are used to calamities. Strong typhoons, floods and even earthquakes are an inextricable part of their life.

But they have recently added one more calamity to their list of misfortunes ? the pothole-ridden road network that is causing just as much damage as strong typhoons like ?Frank.?

?To me, the national highway is the biggest calamity confronting the province and the people of Eastern Samar right now,? said Gov. Ben P. Evardone.

The sorry state of the national road network became the main topic of discussion during the recent meeting of the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council, which was actually convened to discuss the damage caused by ?Frank? when it swept through the province last month.

Very deep craters

?The national highway in our municipality has very deep craters, causing much damage to vehicles and commuters,? Llorente Mayor Anton Cardona lamented during the meeting.

Dolores Mayor Emiliana Villacarillo said she was not even interested in attending the PDCC meeting because of the uncomfortable travel through the 48-kilometer stretch from the municipality of Taft to the capital, Borongan City.

?This has been like this for so long and yet the DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) people seem to be sleeping on their job. They have maintenance funds but they can?t even make emergency repairs,? she said.

Can-avid Mayor Norman Gil Germino even asked the provincial board and PDCC to officially declare the Eastern Samar road network a calamity.

Evardone told the body that he had submitted a proposal to the DPWH regional and national offices about the plan of the province for a collaborative effort to repair the national road.

?Unfortunately, my proposal is gathering dust on their shelves. We have allocated at least P10 million, plus the services of our heavy equipment to repair the worst sections to no avail,? he said.

Although intent on helping out, Evardone said his hands were tied because the DPWH is the one that has jurisdiction over the project.

Giporlos Mayor Mateo Biong thus proposed that the body ask Malacañang to grant emergency power to the province to implement the urgent repairs since the road network was identified as a bigger calamity.

Local Government provincial director Junie Quilitano said there was no need to invoke Palace intercession since the province would not do a major repair and the funds would come from the provincial government, not from the DPWH.

Villacarillo countered with a proposal that the DPWH be given an ultimatum to get the job done and that the maintenance funds should be given to the affected municipalities instead.

Guiuan Mayor Annaliz Gonzales-Kwan said the DPWH people should be given the chance to do their job. ?Sometimes, we identify [the] DPWH with the congressman. Rest assured that Rep. Teodulo Coquilla is doing his best to get the job done but because of bureaucratic red tape, the budget is delayed,? said Kwan, an ally of the lawmaker.

Coquilla was not in the meeting as he was with President Macapagal-Arroyo?s party in the United States then.

Evardone clarified that the PDCC?s concern was not to point an accusing finger at anybody. ?Nobody questions the plans and the good intentions of Representative Coquilla or the DPWH. But the fact is our people are becoming impatient about our road network and we should get our act together to find solutions,? he said.

San Julian Mayor Jojo Erroba said the DPWH was doing its job, albeit at a snail?s pace.

?They only have two dump trucks and one grader. We are not taking over, just offering help,? Erroba said.

In a phone interview, district engineer Ernesto Paderes assured the people of Eastern Samar that the DPWH personnel were doing their job.

?There are asphalt overlays already in some portions between Taft to San Julian road, and there is an ongoing P11-million repair for some portions in the San Julian and Borongan section,? he said.

He also revealed that for this year, P167 million was allocated for the repair of the road section between Taft and Borongan, and another P192 million for the rehabilitation of the road from Maydolong to Guiuan.

However, he said the two major road projects could not yet be started without the funds? Special Allotment Release Order (Saro) from the Department of Budget and Management.

Paderes added that the rehabilitation of the road network in Eastern Samar was the priority of the DPWH, as had previously been stressed by Coquilla.

?We welcome the help of the provincial government but it is the [DPWH] national office that decides on this particular issue specially that it was bid out to a contractor already,? he said.

Paderes added that the DPWH did not have enough equipment because the contractors brought their own. But he did admit that the road network could be described as a calamity.

And it seems that Estehanons will have to live with it for quite some time.

Early this week, Governor Evardone said President Arroyo has given instructions to release the Saro for the 2008 General Appropriations Act) in the amount of P478 million for the road rehabilitation and repair for Eastern Samar.