Pangasinan-Nueva Vizcaya road line to reopen soon
VILLAVERDE TRAIL
SAN NICOLAS—The Villa Verde Trail or the mountainous terrain connecting the provinces of Pangasinan and Nueva Ecija will finally reopen soon.
This was announced by San Nicolas Mayor Rebecca Saldivar who said the groundbreaking for the Villa Verde road reopening will happen next week of September and construction will start immediately.
The Villa Verde Trail is about 38-kilometer terrain from the villages of Sta. Maria East and Malico in San Nicolas, Pangasinan to Barangay Imugan of Santa Fe town in Nueva Vizcaya.
An initial budget of P300 million has been allocated under the General Appropriations Act 2015 for the reopening of the road and the construction of one bridge. Another P280 million is being worked out to be included in the next year’s appropriation by Pangasinan Sixth District Rep. Marlyn Agabas for the concreting and riprapping of said road line and construction of three more bridges.
Ms. Saldivar recalled that the project was initially funded during the administration of Fidel Ramos but was opposed by indigenous people (IPs) in the area but have since withdrawn their opposition.
The town chief executive said the reopening of Villa Verde will open more livelihood opportunities for her constituents, particularly to the residents of “Baguio-vegetable” producing village, Malico.
Malico, the remotest barangay of San Nicolas known for its fertile soil, high elevation, cold climate and home to IPs who belong to the Kalanguya ethnolinguistic group, produces the same products that are sold in in Baguio, i.e., like cabbage, sayote, lettuce, and Shiitake mushroom, the mayor said.
“The Department of Agriculture even put up a P10-million-worth greenhouse for strawberry plantation in the village,” she added.
“In the near future, perhaps, we can claim that San Nicolas will be the “Summer Capital of Pangasinan”,” said Ms. Saldivar.
The Malico village is 40-kilometer away from the town proper and can only be reached by travelling through a 60-kilometer journey through San Jose City, Santa Fe, and the mountain roads of Imugan, Nueva Vizcaya. (Johanne Macob)
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