A three-hour drive from Cebu City to Boljoon for a stopover, another hour to Bato, Samboan and a little over half an hour crossing the Tañon Strait to Tampi on board a Matiao RoRo boat. Thus began our three-day adventure to Negros starting on Labor Day last week.
What’s there not to like about Negros? Otherwise phrased, what’s there to be envious of the Negrenses?
Their roads, that’s what. Other than the Bato-Tampi leg our trip was all on land, from Dumaguete to Sipalay via Bayawan, from Sipalay to Bacolod via Kabankalan and back to Dumaguete via Mabinay. That’s roughly 800 kilometers of roads that are impressively well-maintained, and that’s even an understatement.
We have gotten so used to the smooth ride in Negros that coming home shook us a bit, literally and figuratively. Our highway is in a sorry state, another understatement.
Talyux Bacalso must be turning in his grave. The highway that leads to the south was named after the great Cebuano orator and writer to honor him, supposedly. In its current condition the highway does nothing but dishonor him.
In fairness, there are certain sections of the highway such as the Minglanilla-Naga stretch that live up to its name. In fact, the main road in the entire first congressional district is in a better shape than the rest, thanks to the Gullas congressmen.
They have widened and paved the road between Sibonga and Argao but cracks are beginning to show less than a year after it was reopened to full use. Don’t ask me why. You know.
The land in Negros is flat and vast so they can expand it easily without issues on right of way, you’ll probably say. In our case, there so many obstructions, including trees that you cannot cut because some people say they’re already old anyway (the trees, not the people) so let’s just wait until they die.
But the trees are only part of the problem, a small part, in fact. The real culprit is the swarm of houses along the highway. There is a law on the observance of a setback from the road for any structure but that, sadly, has not been enforced. As a result, the cost of road widening has risen tremendously because we now have to pay for the demolition of structures that are not supposed to be there in the first place.
And then there’s the graft factor. It used to be that contractors paid at least a 15 percent kickback for every project awarded to them. That practice is no longer existent now, I was not told, because some congressmen and mayors have become contractors themselves.
On your way to vote on Monday, take a look at the road leading to your voting center. If it is bad, kick out your congressman, mayor, board member or governor. Avenge yourself.