With the recent inauguration of the DPWH-Mtn. Prov. District Second Engineer ing office (MPDSEO) building at barangay Saliok, Natonin here covering the more than 100 km Barlig-Natonin-Paracelis national road have a story to tell.
The Paracelis-Natonin road construction was the concept of a Belgian Catholic priest named Fr. John Antoniseen in the summer of 1972. In a meeting with Natonin folks he quoted the words of the late US President John F. Kennedy, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” He was with another Belgian priest, Fr. Jerry Boukaert.
In 1973, the road construction began with the engineering skills of Antoniseen
supervised by Boukaert. An initial release of P10,000.00 by the provincial government through then Gov. Jaime K. Gomez was for workers’ meager wages. The late Natonin Mayor Raymundo Lapasen, Sr. mobilized his municipal council to allot an additional P2,000.00.
Without compensation from the government the two priests supplemented the amounts from their mission’s coffers. They also secured donations from charitable institutions like US Aid, and other private sources. The amounts raised took care of early necessities such as saws for cutting of large towering trees, materials for blasting rocks, and other needs for riprapping. Students from the Immaculate Heart High School (IHHS) helped in the project with their labor for free.
Five to seven hundred residents from the 11 barrios volunteered their labor according to work schedules. A kilo of flour, bulgur and other food items were distribu- ted by the Natonin Catholic Mission to the volunteers. When Fr. Antoniseen was transferred to Saint Louis University as a member of the Board of Trustees, Fr. Eugene Van Ackere, also a Belgian priest, took his place to continue supervising the road construction with Boukaert. People from every barrio in the municipality got to share their labor for free.
On November 10, 1975 a convoy of vehicles led by a Philippine Constabulary vehicle undertook the inaugural trip from Paracelis to Natonin on the rough road which was three years in the making.
At about that time, the Barlig parish priest, Fr. Huberto Boumans from Holland, was constructing the Barlig to Banaue road from a trail. Using funds from benefactors abroad he bought a bulldozer, jack-hammer to break rocks but the road was not finished. Perhaps due to inadequate funds.
Likewise,, in 1975, the Manila mass media (print, radio, television) people were invited by Fr. Van Ackere to cover the Natonin people requesting the government, and the private sector (business establishments and charitable organizations) to help in the pro-poor eastern town’s development. Their stories graced newspapers, radio broadcasts and TV shows (at Channel 9, PTV).
At that time, the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) supervised by Joane Shetler was managing a 4-seater airplane. The SIL for 25 years translated the Bible into the Balangao dialect. At that time, the Kadaclan mini-airstrip was being supervised by Takashi Fukuda and David Ohlson who translated the Bible into the Barlig dialect. Their air transport would take off from Barlig and stopped at Bagabag, Nueva Vizcaya, and vice versa.
Before that time, this writer interviewed the late Barlig Mayor Marcelo Babian on a P100,000.00 release based on R.A. 5979 with the intervention of Col. Henry Acmor, Provincial Commander to start the Barlig-Natonin road construction. Another P230,000.00 was approved for the construction of the Barlig emergency Hospital.
In 1979, the Ministry of Public Highways released P2,542,000.00 by Director Jose Pendoza. He was accompanied by the late Ben Palispis, Benguet Governor and Chairman of the Regional Development Council in a helicopter ride to Paracelis, The funding was used by the Military Engineering Battalion to construct the Natonin-Purag road under the command of Captain Francisco Niwane. After finishing their work, they were pulled-out to Cagayan Valley so continuation of the road was taken over by private contractors from Manila and Nueva Ecija.
Under the late Cong. Victor Dominguez, a series of funds were released for the Barlig-
Kadaclan road, 36 kms of forested terrain. Private contractors had come and gone, some abandoning their work, others neglected to pay laborers and still others delayed the project which angered the populace. Auditors came to have an audience with the Kadaclan-Lias tribes and then a dialogue with Dominguez in Bontoc.
For the road to continue, Cong. Dominguez sourced-out funds to complete the Barlig Kadaclan-Purag road to meet where the Engineering Battalion had stopped construction
Many long bridges had to be constructed like the Kabawa bridge in Barlig, Saliok bridge in Natorin and Bananao bridge in Paracelis; also bailey bridges in small rivers.
On March 20, 1991 Cong. Victor Dominguez and Col. Henry T. Acmor with their staff attended the new road inauguration at Kadaclan, Barlig. They continued their journey to Natonin-Paracelis the following day.
Although the three eastern towns were interconnected by rugged roads during the 1990s, rampant problems of erosions, wash-outs, muddy and slippery-sharp curves like logging roads demanded vehicles to use winch and chains on their wheels to be able to move. And because of the slow road improvement which was interpreted by inhabitants as political lethargy, the Barlig-Natonin-Paracelis leadership joined Mayoyao, Aguinaldo and Alfonso Lista (PALMANABA) to be separated as a geographical unit to hasten development.
But as time passed, road concreting was introduced by the late Cong Pilando in Paracelis. Then the late Cong. Maximo Dalog, Sr. continued the concreting of that major national road, pursued by his son, the incumbent Cong. Maximo Dalog Jr.
It can be recalled that four decades ago, these eastern towns were reached by hiking trails such that government officials were reluctant to visit. Natives took the hard torturous trek with heavy loads as a way of life as their ancestors did. Food supplies were “man-carried” to Bontoc or the lowlands where students were enrolled. There were no market outlets for ethnic products. Sick people were transported by hammock to far clinics or hospitals. There was lack of schools, health centers and other basic facilities However, the combined efforts of religious sectors, G0s, NGOs and supporters abroad- the road was realized.
Today, with the fruit of the sacrifices, the socio-economic, educational and tourism opportunities will creep in gradually erasing the backwardness of easterners.
With the establishment of the DPWH-MPDSEO sponsored by Cong. Dalog Sr., the road stretch from Barlig down to Paracelis could be well maintained with the leader ship of Cong. Dalog, Jr.
If DPWH District Engineer Rustom Martinez will continue improving the road, it can become an all-weather road, which will upgrade the lives of the inhabitants and would result in more revenues to the government.**By Dionie Chungalan
