North Cotabato board asks DPWH to fix accident-prone highway

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines — The Sangguniang Panlalawigan of North Cotabato wants a deadly stretch of a highway in the province realigned and rebuilt after scores of accidents in the past 40 years.

Board Member Socrates Piñol told The STAR on Monday that the SP has passed a resolution urging the Department of Public Works and Highways to immediately rebuild the winding stretch of the Cotabato-Davao Highway in Barangay Patulangon in Makilala, North Cotabato.

Piñol authored Resolution 292, which asks the DPWH to immediately make the accident-prone curve safer for motorists.

“That portion of the highway is a killer spot. We in the province are aware of that since we were children,” Piñol said.

“I’m not an engineer but I’m sure it’s the angle of the curve in that stretch of the highway that has caused so many accidents. Something must be done as soon as possible,” Piñol said.

The board member is the younger brother of Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol. 

A hitchhiker was killed and 19 others were badly hurt in a series of accidents in the same spot from January to March this year alone. In the past four decades, 96 people have died in accidents there.

Chief Inspector Elias Colonia of the Makilala municipal police said the accidents this year involved large cargo trucks.