By: Butz Muyco
Photo Credits: Ronald Christopher G. Neri
“Sometimes, development cannot be measured by the length of the road that is built.
Sometimes, it is measured by the distance between fear and hope.”
“There had already been so many accidents on this road.”
Barangay Captain Dominga V. Tondo, known in the community as Kapitan Gingging, said this quietly as she recalled the old road connecting Tamurayan and Macasing in Dumingag, Zamboanga del Sur.
Years ago, whenever she and her husband went to Dumingag to sell corn or buy supplies for their home and store, they load two or three sacks of corn onto their motorcycle. She would sit on top of the sack as her husband carefully navigated the rough road.
The distance from Macasing to Dumingag was only about 16 kilometers.
But the trip could take nearly two hours.
“We fell several times. On the really difficult sections, I would get off and walk—the road was slippery, rocky, and full of deep potholes,” she said.
One accident remains particularly vivid in her memory. She was thrown from a motorcycle driven by her son and landed hard on her shoulder, sending her to the hospital. “The doctor said my heart had been slightly moved, and they had to monitor me closely,” she recalled. What worried her even more, however, was a change she noticed in the way she speaks, after the accident.
Her story was only one of many.
For residents of Macasing, Tamurayan, Danlugan, Datu Tutukan, Dulian, and Malagalad, the road was more than an inconvenience. It shaped how they lived, worked, went to school, accessed basic services, and planned even the simplest routines of daily life.
Although some portions had already been concreted, a 1.48-kilometer stretch remained in poor condition. During heavy rains, water flowed down the road like a drainage canal. Deep potholes, loose rocks, and tight curves made every trip difficult and unpredictable.
For many farmers, horses were the most reliable way to bring their produce to market, but the journey to Dumingag could take nearly four hours. Those who used motorcycles often had to get off and walk through the worst sections before riding again. Trips took longer, and motorcycles sometimes toppled along the way.
Every household seemed to have its own story about the road.
Timuay Leopoldo Arapon of Tamurayan still remembers an incident when a military truck carrying food supplies for a Department of Health outreach activity went over a steep slope after the driver struggled to maneuver along the road. The food scattered down the slope. The driver survived, but was badly shaken.
Barangay Kagawad Joy Lim of Macasing remembers an “operation tuli” in Dumingag one summer. Because vehicles could not reach the village, they walked for hours with the boys who were to undergo circumcision. Afterward, they made the long walk home again, carefully helping the boys along the difficult road.
Some memories were more painful.
Kapitan Gingging recalls an elderly passenger who died after being thrown from a habal-habal when the motorcycle suddenly jolted over a damaged section of the road. The habal-habal driver was later held accountable.
They also recall a woman who developed complications during childbirth and needed to be taken to a hospital. Men carried her in a blanket tied to a bamboo pole until they reached an ambulance waiting in Bag-ong Valencia. She did not make it to the hospital alive.
Students suffered, too.
Iris Tondo remembers always bringing a change of clothes to school in Dumingag. The trip was especially difficult during the rainy season, when mud would inevitably soil their clothes. They would wash up and change as soon as they reached school.
With daily travel nearly impossible, many students, including Iris, stayed in boarding houses during the school week and went home only on Fridays or Saturdays.
Even buying basic household necessities required planning.
Whenever someone from the family went to the market in Dumingag, neighbors would hand over lists of things they needed – salt, dried fish, kerosene, and other everyday supplies. Because each trip took time and money, families learned to combine their errands whenever someone was heading to town.
For many years, the condition of the road dictated the rhythm of community life.
A New Chapter
That began to change in December 2024, when the Department of Agriculture’s Mindanao Inclusive Agriculture Development Project (MIADP), through the DA-MIADP Regional Project Coordination Office IX, approved the subproject – Improvement/Concreting of the 1.48-kilometer Junction Tamurayan–Macasing Farm-to-Market Road, with a project cost of PhP 25,307,840.
The project was completed in July 2026 and now benefits an estimated 1,014 households across six barangays.
The difference is already being felt.
What once took two hours to reach Dumingag now takes just 20 minutes.
Farmers can now bring their produce directly to the market when prices are favorable. More buyers are also coming directly to the barangays, giving farmers more choices in where and when to sell their produce.
Emergency response has improved as well. Ambulances that once could go only as far as Tamurayan can now reach Macasing. Police can also respond more quickly to calls for assistance, contributing to reduced crime and greater security for residents.
Going to school has become easier, too.
Students who once had to stay in boarding houses can now travel to school and return home each day.
For many families, the improved road has also made owning a motorcycle or vehicle more practical.
Motorcycle maintenance costs have gone down as well, according to Romeo Tondo, who has driven a habal-habal for years.
“We used to keep replacing the chain, the brakes, and rubber boots. Now there is less maintenance, and the motorcycle and the driver don’t have to work as hard.”
The better road has also helped spur the local economy. In Macasing, more sari-sari stores have opened. There are now sellers of gasoline, people making and selling hollow blocks, and more Piso WiFi services.
Perhaps one of the simplest yet most meaningful changes is that travel is no longer limited by daylight.
Residents used to avoid traveling at night because of the dangerous road conditions. Now, they can travel more safely at any hour, giving them greater freedom to move around and attend to their needs.
But the biggest impact cannot be measured only in hours saved or transport costs reduced.
It can be seen in students who can now sleep in their own homes instead of boarding houses. In farmers who can decide when and where to sell their harvest. In patients who can be reached more quickly by an ambulance. And in families who can travel with less fear and worry.
For Kapitan Gingging, the road is more than 1.48 kilometers of concrete.
It is a road toward safer journeys, greater opportunity, and a better life.
Sometimes, development cannot be measured by the length of the road that is built.
Sometimes, it is measured by the distance between fear and hope.
And for the people of Macasing and the surrounding communities, that distance is now shorter.
