Ilagan-Divilacan Road

Road to Divilacan; Its promises and worries
Jeanerry Baleva
For the longest time, for the people living at the other side of Sierra
Madre, a road to Divilacan was not even a dream, and not even a wish so
they never thought it would actually be a reality.
Located at the eastern side of the province of Isabela, the isolation of

the four coastal towns – Maconacon, Divilacan, Palanan and Dinapigue –
has always been the lure to explore them. With unexplored hinterlands,
untapped marine resources, beautiful caves, coves, bays and forested
land, the isolation of these places may be one its remaining charms.
With the Ilagan-Divilacan road that is near halfway completion,

sooner or later, anyone can reach those places without the need to use
light planes and boats that are the only available modes of transportation
at the present.
While road project is expected by the local government of Isabela to

boost the economies of the its coastal area, the P2-billion 82 kilometer
Ilagan-Divilacan Road Rehabilitation and Improvement Project, which will
link the four coastal towns in the province of Isabela, is also considered a
threat to Sierra Madre’s rich biodiversity.
Once the Ilagan-Divilacan road is completed, it isn’t just expected to

ease the accessibility of residents in the coastal towns to the mainland, it
isn’t just expected to give them easier access in transporting their
merchandise and in availing their basic necessities and social services from
the provincial government, but it is also expected to improve the economy in
these coastal areas.
It has been the long clamor of the residents in Divilacan, Palanan,

Maconacon, and Dinapigue, to consider the great tourism potentials of their
place. The said coastal areas are known for their rich marine resources,
scenic sites and agricultural products, such as the Divilacan’s 119-hectare
beach and freshwater areas that have lured tourists, but can only be
reached by air travel or a 24-hour boat ride from Cagayan’s northernmost
town of Santa Ana, and a road going to these areas would surely boost
economic activity.
However, Sierra Madre, hosting a number of key biodiversity areas

(KBAs), such as the Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park (NSMNP) and North
Central Sierra Madre, is at risk. Since the proposed road passes through the
foothills of the 359,486-hectare Northern Sierra Madre mountain ranges, it
traverses the NSMNP, which is the largest Protected Area in the Philippines
with contiguous tropical rainforest, covered by the National Integrated
Protected Areas System Act.
As a protected area, the preservation and rehabilitation of Northern

Sierra Madre Mountain Range, its communities, their culture and their way of
life, must be secured by the state, without altering the ecological systems
and the magnitude of biological diversity of the area. Nonetheless, the
Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) issued Resolution No. 11, which
reclassifies portions of the Sierra Madre as a special-use zone. This means
that the road project is considered of national significance.
It was also said that there have been a memorandum of agreement

between the Agta and Dumagat in the area with the Isabela government,
expressing their consent to the road project.
While indigenous people are the direct beneficiary of this project, we

must consider their intimate connection to the natural environment.
However, there are tribesmen who stand to be affected by the project,
questioning the legitimacy of the process.
The impacts of the construction of the Ilagan-Divilacan road are

receiving a lot of concerns from different people, especially the
environmentalists, for Sierra Madre’s rich biodiversity is threatened. It
leads to the cutting of tens of thousands of trees that would further
degrade the environment or cause irreversible damage to the natural
landscape. The road opening is a threat, since it could be used to enter
and exploit virgin forests in the area, which means that there will be easier
entry of people from nearby towns and provinces who are into kaingin (cut
and burn process) and illegal logging activities.
The Sierra Madre has 1.4 million hectares of forest, representing 40

percent of the country’s remaining forest cove, which is the very reason
Sierra Madre is called the last frontier in the Philippines. It is also one of the
factors that makes Cagayan Valley Region a one big watershed area such
that all the headwaters from the mountain ridge cascade down the
tributaries to the Cagayan River. Through this Ilagan-Divilacan road project,
watershed may be destroyed and affect the natural irrigation systems that
for years have supported the way of life of thousands of tribal
communities.
Despite the oppositions, the construction of the 82-km road is still

ongoing and is now 50 percent complete according to the provincial
government of Isabela. The Provincial Environment and Natural Resources
Office (ENRO) assured the protection of the thickly forested Sierra Madre
mountain ranges by putting up safeguards against illegal activities. To
ensure safety, they’ve already placed road markers signages and other
protective structures along the entire road length. They said that they will
make sure that policies and laws on the preservation of the protected
areas are strictly implemented.
In any development projects regarding the natural environment, it is

a must to consider the effects of it, not just to the development of the
economy but also to the biodiversity. It must still be ensured that the
economic growth will be attained in the four coastal areas of Isabela, with
least disturbance to the environment.

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Road to Divilacan; Its promises and worries

Located at the eastern side of the province of Isabela, the isolation of

With the Ilagan-Divilacan road that is near halfway completion,

While road project is expected by the local government of Isabela to

Once the Ilagan-Divilacan road is completed, it isn’t just expected to

It has been the long clamor of the residents in Divilacan, Palanan,

However, Sierra Madre, hosting a number of key biodiversity areas

As a protected area, the preservation and rehabilitation of Northern

It was also said that there have been a memorandum of agreement

While indigenous people are the direct beneficiary of this project, we

The impacts of the construction of the Ilagan-Divilacan road are

The Sierra Madre has 1.4 million hectares of forest, representing 40

Despite the oppositions, the construction of the 82-km road is still

In any development projects regarding the natural environment, it is

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