CANDABA, Pampanga – A new way of building roads – labor by the residents, materials from the provincial government – has started in Pampanga.

Called “Bayanihan Roads,” the first of their kind, at least 31 in all, began to be constructed in the farming village of Barangca here on Wednesday.

At least 10 men volunteered to work as the village’s counterpart in the project. They mixed sand, gravel and cement, laying the mixture later on the first paved segment.

When completed in 45 to 50 days, this concrete structure will end decades of having to use only a dirt road that turns muddy on rainy months, according to barangay (village) captain Eliseo Catacutan.

“This is the first time that this will be concreted,” Catacutan, 68, told Governor Eddie Panlilio, who chipped in an hour of labor.

Altogether, their labor counterpart complements the P1.5-million worth of materials bought by the provincial government for the 860-meter road, according to provincial administrator Vivian Dabu.

The capitol has sent engineers to supervise the construction. Its earth moving machines were also dispatched here.

Catacutan said the road was “very important” because residents of the nearby villages of Salapungan, Mangumbali and Mapanique also use it to bring their crops to the market. The four villages, although part of Candaba, are nearer to San Ildefonso and San Miguel towns in Bulacan.

Panlilio later told reporters that the capitol resorted to the scheme to “be able to stretch the funds as requests for village roads mounted.”

The initial budget of P15 million came from the discretionary funds of Panlilio. The supplies for the 30 other roads will be bid out, Dabu said.

“We responded to villages whose residents agreed to build their roads through bayanihan [cooperation],” the governor said of how the beneficiaries were selected.

If done by contract, which includes labor, overhead, contingency, contractor’s profit, engineering supervision and ready-mix concrete, the same length of road will cost P3 million, Dabu said.

The Bayanihan Road followed the spirit of the Pamisaupan (Helping Each Other), a mobile service caravan that has gone to 23 remote villages since July 2007.

At least 50 classrooms had been repaired on a P20-million budget Bayanihan-style.

The provincial government has built 34.22 kilometers of roads and canals, 191 meters of bridges, 802 square meters of slope protection and pavement for P67.3 million. At least 20 public hospitals, schools and covered courts were repaired for P48.3 million.