Nueva Ecija city suffers road project woes

CABANATUAN CITY, Philippines—It’s Cabanatuan’s turn to complain about government road projects that have caused massive traffic jams at the start of classes this month.

Mayor Julius Cesar Vergara has asked the Department of Public Works and Highways to submit to the city government a detailed road reblocking work program for the Cabanatuan City-Papaya Road and the Nueva Ecija-Aurora Road that has made commuting difficult, particularly for schoolchildren.

The Nueva Ecija-Aurora Road, which is being improved for P35.5 million, links eastern Nueva Ecija towns and Aurora province to this urbanized city. The Cabanatuan City-Papaya Road, which would cost P11.2 million, will improve the links of the city to southern Nueva Ecija areas.

Vergara said he had been walking these roads from 12 to 20 kilometers to get a full grasp of the problem. “I wanted to see if they were doing their work properly,” he said. “I saw too many problems in the road program, so I told myself this had to stop. For instance, they did not even employ flag men [to manage traffic flow].” Armand Galang, Inquirer Central Luzon