SAN FERNANDO, Bukidnon (MindaNews / 13 August 2026) — With local governments from
either side of the highway connecting Bukidnon and Davao del Norte absent to implement police
powers, vehicles could still pass through a landslide portion of the Kapalong-Talaingod-Valencia
(KTV) Road at certain hours, MindaNews learned.

This, despite the Department of Public Works and Highways announcing in early August that the
road was still officially closed.
MindaNews visited the landslide area on Wednesday to check on the condition of the KTV Road
more than a month after a landslide closed off all lanes of the road and rendered the area
impassable.

With no security or police deployed to guard both ends of the closed off area, vehicles would
pass through towards either side of the road outside working hours.
Residents also said that workers of contractor M. Montesclaros Enterprises Inc. have been
scolded by some angry motorists who demanded entry between 8 a.m. to 12 noon and 1 p.m. to 4
p.m.
Through Facebook posts, the DPWH X had officially declared the KTV Road closed to the
public, but motorists, residents, and locals have been using the road in between crucial road
work.
Rasmia Juab, 34, told MindaNews that some passengers even offered MMEI workers money so
they could pass through.
“They would offer 100 or 200 [pesos] to let them pass through, but the workers refused,” Juab
said.
During MindaNews’ visit, at least two motorists were let through: one carrying a patient headed
towards a hospital in Valencia City in Bukidnon and another headed towards the Davao del Norte
side, to help rescue a downed Mazda Bongo downhill. 
During the work hours, MindaNews also saw how dangerous the debris could be for passing
motorists and pedestrians.
Rocks as large as refrigerators and couches rolled off the cliff during slope scalings uphill.
Heavy machineries were used to manage the side of the slope.
In a Facebook post August 4, the DPWH said the road remained closed and advised the public to
use the Maramag-Carmen-Kabacan-Digos-Davao Road for all types of vehicles and the Campo
Uno section of the Davao-Bukidnon Road for lighter vehicles.
The DPWH had also asked vloggers to stop announcing that the road was open to the public:
“Mahigpit na nananawagan ang DPWH sa mga vlogger, content creator, at social media user na
iwasan ang pag-post o pagbabahagi ng mga content na maaaring magligaw sa publiko na ang
KTV Road ay bukas na o ligtas nang daanan. Mangyaring umasa lamang sa mga opisyal na abiso
ng DPWH ukol sa estado at muling pagbubukas ng apektadong kalsada.”
But to the MMEI workers, the closure was not up to them; at the same time, they could not stop
motorists from passing through outside work hours.
One worker, who asked not to be named, said they would only let emergency cases pass through.
Meanwhile, MindaNews found a study published by two Mindanawon engineers appeared to
warn the DPWH as early as February 2026 to preventively reinforce portions of the KTV Road,
months before a landslide disconnected Davao del Norte from Bukidnon. 

The study, mainly about preventive road strengthening across the corridor, included geohazard-
specific slope protection and drainage improvements for short, failure-prone road sections.
The paper — “Pavement Condition Evaluation of the Kapalong-Talaingod-Valencia (Bukidnon)
Road in Mindanao, Philippines” — was written by Neil Ian O. Tagaan (an engineer working at
DPWH in Bukidnon) and Jonathan B. Calibara (of the University of Science and Technology of
Southern Philippines in Cagayan de Oro City) and published in the American Journal of Civil
Engineering and Architecture in February 2026.
The paper reviewed a four-year record of the DPWH visual condition index and showed that
portions of the strategic inter-provincial corridor had needed reinforcement as early as 2021.
The study evaluated a 51.541-kilometer section of the Kapalong–Talaingod–Valencia (Bukidnon)
Road, from K1538+(-687) to K1588+854, using the DPWH Visual Condition Index.
According to the study, constant heavy rains affected the slope stability of nearby mountain
ranges in the route.
As part of a recommendation for various portions of the KTV road, the study recommended
geohazard-specific slope protection and drainage improvements for short, failure-prone road
sections.
The road is a strategic mountain corridor linking Davao del Norte and Bukidnon across steep,
high-rainfall terrain. 
The road has also been able to cut travel time between Mati City and Cagayan de Oro from 10 to
12 hours to seven to eight hours.
Across portions of the road, the roads were at the bottom of steep slopes, with portions partially
blocked by debris and rock from cliffs at least 50 feet high. (Yas D. Ocampo / MindaNews)