Trivia: Kung mag-southroad ka, maaraman mo na nasa Bicol ka na kung pirmi ka na nauuntog o kaya halos mahulog sa tinutukawan mo.

Last week, we had an opportunity for a road trip to Bicol down to Sorsogon. Indeed, the observation holds true when we entered the Andaya Highway saro sa duwang agihan para makalaog sa Bicol haleng Manila o kaya Quezon. It was a hell of a drive dahil dai ka makapakaskas asin an dalagan mo garo sana su dalagan kan punerarya pasiring sa lubungan. An makamurumundo, pirmi arog kaini ang sitwasyon ever since. Garo baga wara nang katapusan an kalbaryo maski nakangaran an highway sa sarong uragon na pulitiko.

An Andaya Highway minamantenir ini kan DPWH sa pagtarabang kan Engineering districts kan Quezon (4th ED), Camarines Norte, asin Camarines Sur (1st ED). Gustong sabihon, an kahalabaan kan Highway bakong responsibilidad kan saro sanang Engineering District kaya imposible na mapabayaan dahil tolo an nagtatarabang-tabang para ayuson asin manteniron iyan.

But the surprising thing is, three is NO BETTER than one. Pirming raot, pirming inaayos asin below standards. A few years ago, me mga barkada kitang taga-Concerned Citizens of Abra for Good Government (CCAGG) an nag-bisita sa Bicol. An CCAGG saro sa mga non-government organizations na accredited kan Commission on Audit para bantayan ang mga proyekto kan gobyerno asin i-report ang mga posibleng maanomalyang proyekto. Mala ta may mga naipakulong sindang opisyal kan gobyerno sa Cordillera Region, asin ipinabaklas na mga tinampo dahil below standard.

Sa saindang pag-agi sa Andaya Highway, kasabay sa mga naobserbaran ninda an mga lubak, ampaw na trabaho asin engineering-standard-defying curves. Dapat daa, ang mga kurbada magsund sa tilting or sloping standards arog kan sa race track. Kung paliko ka sa wala, dapat mas halangkaw ang slope sa too ngani dai mag-drift asin bumaliktad ang lunadan. Kun paliko ka naman sa too, dapat an slope mas halangaw an sa wala. This explains why there are a number of accidents in the highway particularly along sharp curves. This further brings to a point: Kung aram ini kan mga simpleng taga-NGO, nata dai ini aram kan mga district engineers na in-charged sa Andaya Highway?

Next, when I worked with an international financing institution, I’ve had the privilege to look into the Road and Bridge Information Application System (RBIAS) of the Department of Public Works and Highways. With the RBIAS, one can say that a road or a bridge needs repair because there are dates when the last engineering work was done. Andaya Highway also defies that system because there is no month of the year without any construction work in that stretch.

Worse, these nerver-ending JOBS THAT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND do not even cause an alarm for the children of the late Congressman Rolando Andaya Sr. Nonoy Andaya once headed the appropriations committee in the Lower House. And now we have his sister representing the First Congressional District. Are they not ashamed that the road renamed in honor of their father does not befit the name? Or yan talaga ang gustong ipahiling ninda — na ang Andaya, raot-raot?

But of course, makalagpas ka sa Camarines Sur, medyo maayos naman ang tinampo lalo na paglaog mo sa Third District kan Albay. Ang kalaban mo lang, mga tricycle asin motor na pinapabayaan lang kan mga lokal na gobyerno na maghade sa highway.

The treat is in Sorsogon (not Sorsogon City which is a disaster with the presence of so many tricycles) especially sa Second District na igwa ka ki magayon, mahiwas asin malinig na highway na puwede mong apudon na Sorsogon Expressway (SEX). This is true especially when you enter the towns of Casiguran, Juban asin Irosin where the roads tilt appropriately in curves thus reducing accidents and unwanted drifts.

Now if Sorsogon can do this, why can’t the District Engineers assigned to maintain Andaya Highway not do the same? Does this mean the DPWH has multiple standards when it comes to hiring District Engineers? Or multiple standards in constructing and maintaining roads and bridges?

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