Tuba: Public Works and Highways Secretary Manuel Bonoan on Monday defended the Kennon Road rockshed project, which President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. inspected on Sunday.

According to Philippines News Agency, Bonoan assured that the Kennon Road rockshed remains effective in shielding motorists from falling rocks. He has ordered immediate repairs on nearby structures weakened by recent landslides caused by a series of weather disturbances last month. The DPWH chief visited Tuba to inspect the riverbed below the rockshed and to assess how to better safeguard the structure.

During the inspection, Bonoan emphasized that the rockshed remains intact and continues to serve its purpose. He assured the public that no funds had gone to waste, debunking earlier information that reached the President. Bonoan also intends to brief the President on the original design of the Kennon Road rockshed, which was intended to span 250 meters to fully cover the hazardous section prone to landslides. However, the project, estimated at PHP498 million, had to be scaled down to 151 meters due to budget limitations, leaving parts of the slope unprotected.

On Sunday, Marcos denounced the PHP 260-million rockshed project along the major road as “useless,” confirming reports that the structure’s slope protection had disintegrated, causing soil collapse, rock falls, and the closure of a portion of the vital thoroughfare. Bonoan explained that the rockshed was built in response to a study identifying the instability of Kennon Road’s mountain slopes, which frequently trigger landslides.

Bonoan noted that falling rocks from about 300 meters high damaged an old crib wall below the structure, but the rockshed itself withstood the impact. “DPWH-CAR (Cordillera Administrative Region) will submit its report tomorrow, and I will also submit a report to the President on what really happened here, the status of the project, and what can be done to prevent future damage. We still have a quick response fund that we can use for this,” he added.