Mati’s Munoz-Colilisi highway temporarily closed

THE Provincial Local Government Unit of Davao Oriental (PLGU-Davao Oriental) has temporarily closed the national highway along Munoz-Colilisi in Mati City due to huge cracks and continuous ground movements following the successive heavy rains.

As of Thursday morning, February 22, 2024, the road, which is the boundary between Barangay Tagabakid in the municipality of Tarragona and Munoz in Barangay Mayo, Mati City, remains impassable to all types of vehicles, including motorcycles. 

However, according to the local government unit of Mati City (LGU-Mati City), the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (PDDRMC)-DavOr and other humanitarian and disaster management clusters in the province suggested an alternative route starting from Tagabakid Barangay Hall and ends at Bugakan Elementary School.

This is in order not to hamper all travel and transport of relief goods and other materials to communities that are still affected by recent calamities.

“The Provincial Engineering Office plans to do rehabilitation and improvement work on the alternate route while the City of Mati LGU would provide solar lights along the alternate route,” the LGU-City of Mati said in its statement.

As of press writing, the province eyes to finish the road rehabilitation within three days. 

Meanwhile, motorists from Davao City and other provinces planning to travel to Davao Oriental’s east coast portion are advised to take the Compostela road in Davao de Oro to reach Cateel, Davao Oriental. 

To recall, the combined effects of the trough or extensions of the low-pressure area (LPA) and shear line since December 2023 have created massive soil erosion in several parts of Davao Oriental.

The recent rain-induced landslides occurred on Thursday evening, February 15, along Pulang Pantad road in Barangay Badas in Mati City near the Munoz-Colilisi resulted in the temporary closure of the road by the local authorities for hours. DEF