DPWH opens 57 kilometers of Samar–Eastern Samar highway

TACLOBAN CITY — The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has opened 57 kilometers (km) of the 70-km Basey-Maydolong Road, which links the provinces of Samar and Eastern Samar.

This significantly reduces travel time between the cities of Tacloban and Borongan.

As of May this year, the DPWH-Eastern Visayas (DPWH-8) reported that P1.7 billion of the project’s total P3.1-billion budget has been released, enabling substantial progress on what is considered one of Eastern Visayas’ high-impact infrastructure projects.

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Over the past decade, the funding has allowed the agency to open and pave 30.2 km of road on the Eastern Samar side and 26.8 km on the Samar side.

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The DPWH seeks to complete the project before the end of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s term.

“This project will link the provinces of Eastern Samar and Samar and serve as the shortest route from Tacloban City to Borongan City,” DPWH-8 Director Edgar Tabacon said in a statement on Thursday.

“It will reduce travel time from four hours via the Basey-Marabut-Balangiga Road to just two hours through the Basey-Maydolong Road,” he noted.

The road project continues the tourism corridor that connects the Borongan-Llorente Closed Canopy Road in Eastern Samar with the San Juanico-Basey-Sohoton Road in Samar.

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Currently, motorists traveling from Eastern Samar to Tacloban City can take either the Paranas-Taft Road or the Borongan-Quinapondan-Lawaan-Marabut-Basey Road.

Borongan City is about 190 km from Tacloban City via the shortest existing route, which passes through Basey and Marabut before reaching the Eastern Samar border.

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Once completed, the Basey-Maydolong Road is expected to offer a more efficient and reliable alternative route, especially during heavy rainfall, when sections of the Buray-Taft Road become impassable due to flooding and landslides.

The Samar segment of the road passes through Barangay Wespal in Basey, which is home to some of the municipality’s premier tourist attractions, including the jump-off point for the renowned Sohoton Cave and the entrance to Balantak Falls.

Basey is about 42 km from Tacloban City, the regional capital, while Maydolong is just 21 km from Borongan City, the capital of Eastern Samar.

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The highway is anticipated to enhance inter-provincial links, improve access to tourism destinations, enable smoother movement of goods and services, and foster economic growth in both provinces upon completion. /apl