The North Luzon Agribusiness Quadrangle (NLAQ) has opened roads for the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).
Acting Secretary Bernie Fondevilla of the Department of Agriculture said heavy investments in north Luzon wants to transform the area into a major agribusiness corridor.
Four priority road projects are also being improved, Fondevilla said. Among them are the P1.96-billion roads of La Trinidad to Mt. Data to Bontoc to Banaue sections of the Halsema Highway. This road network will lessen the occurrence of landslides during the rainy season and mitigate losses incurred due to damages on agricultural commodities.
The P3.29 billion upgrading of the 108 kilometer Bontoc to Tabuk to Tuguegarao Road will connect the Pan-Philippine Highway in Tuguegarao and the Halsema Highway in Bontoc, serving as an inter-regional link between CAR and Davao Region.
Travel time between Bontoc and Tuguegarao from five hours and 30 minutes will be cut to three hours, Fondevilla added.
The NLAQ, whose development champion was former Agriculture secretary Arthur Yap, covers the CAR, Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley and portions of Central Luzon, particularly the northern parts of the four provinces of Aurora (north of Baler), Tarlac (north of Tarlac City), Nueva Ecija (north of Cabanatuan City), and Zambales (north of Subic).