The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is determined to complete next year the P112-million circumferential road in the historic island town of Limasawa, Southern Leyte.
To make this happen, the Southern Leyte District Engineering Office (SLDEO) has already bid out the P44.1 million for the concreting of the remaining 1.637 kilometers of unpaved road.
District Engineer Ma. Margarita C. Junia
said paving the rural road network reaffirms the government’s commitment to link all villages in the historic town to sustain the local economy. The entire road project was listed by the DPWH and Department of Tourism (DOT) as priority under the tourism infrastructure project.
The concreting project was started in 2013 with an outlay of P36 million covering 1.23 kilometer. For 2014, the project got a P32 million funding for another 1.1 kilometer.
The road links the six villages of the town – San Agustin, San Bernardo, Triana, Magallanes, Cabulihan, and Lugsongan.
“The completion of concreting is part of the preparation for the 500th commemoration of the First Mass anniversary on March 31, 2021,” Junia said.
Limasawa, a sixth-class town, is the site of the national shrine where the First Catholic Mass in the Philippines and Asia was celebrated on March 31, 1521, in which a Sinugdan Festival is held annually on this date to commemorate the event.
It has a population of only 6,000 inhabitants, making it the smallest town in the province, both in population and area.