Continuing Road Development
Eastern Buguias municipality's road development in the 1970s was financed largely by the national government and by the United States, whose motivations were mainly military. At the time, Bot-oan formed an NPA stronghold. By the early 1980s the NPA presence diminished, and state funding evaporated. A road extension into western Ifugao—a remaining NPA refuge—was still planned, but this proved too expensive and dangerous. After the 1984 legislative elections, politicians seemingly abandoned the road, much to the consternation of the Kalanguya people of western Ifugao province.
Through various creative financing schemes, feeder-road construction continues. Wealthy farmers, especially those living in the Bot-oan area, occasionally build private roads. Road developers sometimes convince the barangay to assume maintenance costs, effectively passing all burdens to the public sector. Barangay roads are usually maintained through cooperative work parties, with some communities occasionally purchasing bulldozer time.
Less prosperous farmers sometimes jointly finance road construction in their hamlets. In a typical case, each farmer directly benefitting will donate something on the order of 500 pesos, with wealthier growers usually contributing severalfold more. One such project in Buguias was unsuccessfully negotiated for several years; the interested farmers all sought different corridors, since all wanted close access but none wished to lose any land. Although they finally reached a compromise, one barangay official fears that erosion safeguards were discarded in the process. A similar road in another Buguias hamlet had eroded so quickly that it was downgraded to a buffalo-cart path after several years.
The municipal and provincial governments share responsibility for major roads, generally those entailing construction costs of over 50,000 pesos. Funding is politically charged, as villages compete for road access. In 1985, the Buguias municipal council released funds to extend the Bot-oan road southward toward the upper Capuyuan drainage. Southern Buguias municipality marked this as a victory, since in their eyes the more powerful northern interests usually monopolize road funds. This project also generated some unusual local opposition, as a few elders argued that it would only bring in more gin and associated social ills.