Planned DPWH road into watershed alarms Baguio council
BAGUIO CITY—A P23.9-million government road project that would cut through one of Baguio’s remaining watersheds has raised alarm among local officials and environmental advocates.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) bid out a 1,300-square-meter road in 2025 that would create a new route linking Barangays Pinget and West Quirino Hill, crossing the critically endangered Buyog watershed.
Reduced from its original 19.93-hectare span under the late President Fidel Ramos’ Proclamation No. 93 to 7.2 ha due to expanding settlements, Buyog is now a prominent strip of pine and other trees standing out amid a sea of rooftops on the hillside. Its unique appearance makes it one of the most photographed patches of forest in Baguio.
‘More harm than good’
Public works engineers Frances Vincent Saloria and Geofrey Galwan of the Baguio City District Engineering Office (BCDEO) asked the City Council on Monday for its endorsement of the P24-million project.
Local government approval is required for a special gratuity permit to build on forestland, which the BCDEO is seeking from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
But some council members immediately questioned the project. Councilors Peter Fianza, a former city administrator, and Vladimir Cayabas asked why the DPWH bid out the project before completing these requirements.
Councilor Edison Bilog, a former vice mayor, warned that “the road itself may bring more harm than good to the watershed and its surrounding communities because it may disrupt water services and facilitate the entry of informal settlements.”
Maria Dolores Balagat, DENR chief of regulation and permitting at the Baguio Community Environment and Natural Resources Office, acknowledged that a road could affect the integrity of the watershed.
Baguio currently rations water and has long been protective of its watersheds, including Buyog, the 355-ha Busol watershed, and the 14.36-ha Camp 8 watershed.
A 2019 urban carrying capacity study computed Baguio’s population threshold for water at 267,546 consumers—a limit already exceeded, as the 2020 census recorded over 366,000 residents.
Residents of Barangays Pinget and Quirino Hill, however, argue the road is necessary for emergency medical access and firetrucks, said Barangay Captains Pablo Pawi Jr. (Pinget) and Anselma Mayao (Lower Quirino Hill).
“It would also allow pupils to reach their schools more safely and efficiently,” added Sangguniang Kabataan president and Councilor John Rhey Mananeng.
The BCDEO presented the council with two road options: the initial bid design, which would follow the forest contours near a populated area and displace four trees, and a 2015 survey plan, which would cut through the watershed and remove 21 to 24 trees.
