Philippine Government Publishes Relief Route Map

The Philippine government has published a relief route map designed to provide information to those attempting to get relief goods to the areas affected by Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda). Aside from being useful information for those attempting to get aid in — this also helps those outside the Philppines get a sense of the huge area that has been affected. There are devastated towns and villages all along these routes.

Included with the map is the following announcement:

Relief operations moves at a faster pace with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) able to open all national roads in Eastern Visayas (Region 8) and with works now focus in the clearing of secondary and city roads in Tacloban City.

Secretary of Public Works and Highways Rogelio L. Singson said that the first objective was to clear primary national roads so that supply lines will have access or the food stuff and relief operations could reach the affected areas.

To facilitate the movement of relief goods to devastated areas, goods coming from Bicol to Tacloban may utilize the Matnog RoRo-Allen-Catbalongan-San Juanico route while the Ormoc-Carigara-Palo-Tacloban and Ormoc-Baybay-Abuyog-Dulag-Tolosa-Palo-Tacloban routes are intended supply routes for those coming Cebu to Ormoc and Leyte.

For the relief efforts going to Borongan and Guiuan, Eastern Samar, the Catbalogan-Wright-Taft-San Julian-Borongan-Hernani-Guiuan and Catbalogan-Basay-Marabut-Lawaan-Guiuan are the two routes option.

Although there are road sections with limited lanes due to badly damaged road sections, DPWH is looking to recover fully within 3-4 days road right of way of national highways.

Singson said that 36 of the 138 road sections in Eastern Visayas were earlier affected by the devastating typhoon. DPWH Regional Offices in the National Capital Region, Bicol, Central Visayas, Southern Mindanao (Davao Region), and CARAGA pooled their equipment and manpower resources to support and augment the DPWH Region 8 massive clearing works.

Twenty DPWH dump-trucks are immediately deployed in Region 8, ten of which coming from Region 5 including 5 payloader while about 248 personnel were also sent as augmentation personnel.

Private contractors were also mobilized to assist in the clearing activities.

Aside from Region 8, national roads in Region 4-B, 5, 6, and 7 with about 113 road sections affected by the category 5 typhoon are all cleared and passable.