Hon. Maximo B. Dalog
Congressman
Lone District of
Mountain Province
and
Rt Rev.Brent Alawas
Diocesan Bishop
Episcopal Diocese of
Northern Philippines
SIRS,
WE,
parishioners of the Church of St Mary the Virgin of the Episcopal Church in the
Philippines (ECP) and residents of Sagada,
Mountain Province residing in the municipality and elsewhere forward this petition opposing the proposed diversion
road project from the main road to the borders of Deccan, Sayoksok on to Daoangan
dubbed Dantay-Sagada Diversion Road and asking for the building of parking
facility instead.
COGNIZANT that proposed
diversion road is located within the Mission Compound, part of the property
owned by the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Philippines of the Episcopal Church
in the Philippines and administered by the Church of St Mary the Virgin.
AWARE that the
Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Philippines(EDNP)
endorsed the building of proposed diversion road.
AWARE that a Permit
to Enter was issued by EDNP Bishop Brent
Alawas and witnessed by Barangay Patay
Punong Barangay Dennis Lopez, Rev. Archie Turtem chairman of the Standing Committee, Secretary
to the Standing Committee Rev Ezra Calitong, and Ms.Penelope Claver Special
Agent to the Department of Public
Works and Highways (DPWH) to enter,
conduct and undertake, survey and occupy
and do other construction activities in connection to the building of proposed diversion road.
AWARE that proposed
project reached the office of Mountain Province Congressman Maximo Dalog to facilitate and provide support in the
budgeting of funds needed for building of said proposed diversion road.
AWARE further that
proposed diversion road according to the Standing Committee intends to resolve traffic congestion along the main road of the
town especially during influx of
tourists; and accordingly protects the
Mission Compound from encroachment.
AWARE that proposed diversion road refers to the same contested
road proposed in 2014 which supposedly
should have been funded by the Cordillera Highland Agricultural Resource
Management Project (CHARMP) in the
amount of P1.9 million pesos and supposedly
to be implemented by the Local Government Unit of
Sagada but was opposed by the congregation of the Church of St Mary the
Virgin(CSMV) and the public as noted in a congregational assembly, public
consultation and a signature campaign.
AFFIRMING opposition to the proposed opening of the diversion
road noting earlier opposition considering enticement of probable squatting due commercial opportunities,
strong threat of a destroyed eco-park of the Mission compound, anticipated
indiscriminate waste disposal along the proposed diversion road, nor any part
of the Mission Compound posing
destruction of a heritage site established a hundred years ago.
NOTING that designation of parking lots answered the
problem of traffic congestion during the
2014 and 2015 Holy Week and the long
weekend from April 9 to 12, 2015 with the identification of parking lots where cars of tourists and residents were directed to let the main road a
no-parking site; and further
improvement of traffic systems
including loading and unloading time
provided for, putting up of road signs, and deployment of traffic aides.
SECONDING a major suggestion forwarded during the
August 1,2014 public consultation that parking lots be
constructed instead. SUPPORTING the
above suggestion and calling for the construction
of a parking space deemed accepted by the public.
RESOLVED to REQUEST the office of Congressman Maximo B
Dalog to facilitate provision of funding for parking space instead and withdrawing endorsement to proposed
diversion road thereof to RDC.
RESOLVED FURTHER to
ask Bishop Brent Alawas to cancel the
Permit to Enter and the Standing Committee to equally cancel their endorsement to said proposed diversion road.
RESOLVED FURTHER to
forward this petition to the office of Congressman Maximo Dalog, Regional Development
Council, Department of Public Works and Highways, Vestry of the Church of St
Mary the Virgin, Standing Committee and
to the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Philippines for their appropriate action.
Signed this April-May 2015.
No to diversion road, that is not progress. Mount Cavalry has already been desecrated with an unsightly cellphone tower; it's not too late to change the decision to build a diversion road. Find better, smarter ways to appropriate the money that preserves Sagada.