KAYBIANG TUNNEL - THE LONGEST UNDERGROUND HIGHWAY TUNNEL IN THE PHILIPPINES - LONGEST TO BUILD

If you are planning your next trip to the northwest towns of Batangas, you can consider taking a new route via the newly opened 300 meter Kaybiang Tunnel in Mt. Palay-Palay.  When it opened last July 1, 2013, it now came to be known as "The Longest Underground Highway Tunnel in the Philippines !"This new route will cut your travel time significantly and the trip will offer breathtaking views of the Mt.Palay-Palay Protected Areas as well as the spectacular land and seascapes of the Nasugbu Cove.  There are no public utility transport plying this route for the moment so only private vehicles have the opportunity to pass this route.  Our journey begins in Mt. Palay-Palay where we had just concluded a tree planting activity in the area.

 First part of the journey is an uphill climb to Mt. Palay-Palay passing by Puerto Azul Beach Resort and the Magnetic Hill.  You will also see an open pit quarry on the left side.  After passing by the DENR station on the left proceed further uphill towards Caylabne Bay until you encounter a road sign leading to Kaybiang Tunnel and Nasugbu. Just drive leisurely so you can still enjoy the scenery of the rugged vegetation of Mt. Palay-Palay.

For the benefit of those who are not familiar with the place,  Mts. Palay-Palay / Mataas na Gulod national Park is a combined forest and marine ecosystem declared as a Protected Landscape by virtue of Proclamation No. 1594 on October 1976 under NIPAS, located in Ternate, Cavite.  The vegetation type of this forest ecosystem is already a seconday growth forest but as you can see the density of the vegetation behind me has reached its climax already, meaning that that the succession process in this forest has been achieved. 

This ecosystem however, still has its share of continuing threats from illegal logging and hunting activities of the locals and the land grabbing acts of the surrounding resorts.  There is still a need to educate the people living in this area on how fragile their ecosystem is and if they don't contribute to its conservation then they will also be the one to suffer its tragic consequences.

I was actually with a large group of students from De La Salle University-Dasmarinas whom I am accompanying on their Ecology field trip. I saw this as an opportunity to include this expedition in my blog considering also that this is the first time I will be passing through Kaybiang Tunnel.  Everyone is actually excited because most of them will also be passing the tunnel for the first time as well.  

 So here we are at the intersection which used to be a turnpike going to a Marine Military Base.  The road is now open to the public going to the tunnel.  Sometimes I envy soldiers who once train in these areas because they have the firsthand experience of enjoying the rugged beauty of the landscape.  I sure hope that none of the surrounding lands had not been grabbed by colonels and generals who always get the upper hand in unjustly owning lands using military logistics in surveying potential real estate.  This is still one area of corruption that needs to be eradicated together with the porl barrel.  But that's another story.

Reaching the tunnel will require traveling through zigzag and hairpin loops, uphill and downhill drive and bridges.  Overall, the entire road is in tip-top condition with one or two portions that collapsed in a landslide probably caused by the torrential rains.  Despite of the dizzying travel, you will be treated with a picturesque view of trees, sea, birds, insects, flowers, monkeys and the occasional backpackers.  All these make up for one truly, exciting adventure indeed!  

Finally, we reached the Kaybiang Tunnel.  As we begin to enter the tunnel, a thought crossed my mind about any trivial information about the tunnel that is worth mentioning.  I did some research and to my surprise, I found the information to be very amusing.  Allow me to gleefully share it with you. According to SEG Rockworks and Engineering, together with SANVIL Blasting Services that built the tunnel, the project started March of 2009.  It's been 4 years now and the there are still finishing works being done.

To make things more interesting, let's make some comparison with other similar tunnels.   The longest road tunnel in the world is Laerdal Tunnel in Norway at 24,510 meters (that’s exactly how long EDSA is) and took 5.5 years to complete. The Menora Tunnel in Malaysia is 800 meters long and took 3 years to complete. So fitting to say, not only is it the longest tunnel in the Philippines at 300 meters, it is also the tunnel that took the longest to build at 4 years and still counting! What a feat! Only in the Philippines!

As we begin to exit on the other side of the longest tunnel in the Philippines, we were greeted by the majestic seascape of Nasugbu, Batangas although the tunnel is still part of Cavite.

The view on the other side of the tunnel was simply spectacular!  There was a vast expanse of ocean on the right and an island fort of Corregidor can be seen in the distant right.  The travel from here to Nasugbu is still a long one and it took us around 45 minutes to reach the town center of Nasugbu. 

 In the middle of the picture lies Caraballo Island, which is one of the fortified islands of Manila Bay that serves as the supporting defenses that complements Corregidor which is situated in the far background.  The island is off limits to the public at the present because it serves as the training base for the Philippine Navy.

As we proceeded  downhill, a part of the many peninsula of Nasugbu jutted out into the sea while Limbones island looms from afar.  Actually I was expecting that we will be traversing the coastal road leading to Munting Buhangin, Kayangan Cove and Punta Fuego, but to my surprise the bus went further inland away from the coast and the next thing we knew we were already in the town center of Nasugbu. 

Finally, we were at sea level in Nasugbu, we passed by many small barangays that I think these are the remote sitios in Nasugbu because during the entire downhill trip from the tunnel we did not encounter any public utility jeep, bus or even tricycle.  Trips to these places probably occurs once or twice daily, so life in these remote places is quite simple.  We even crossed a dilapidated pontoon bridge that I was afraid might collapsed when five of our buses crossed it.  Luckily it did not and lastly we passed a sunken part of the pavement which made it treacherous for the bus to cross.  But we all made it in one piece and we continued our journey towards Matabungkay which is our next destination. 

 That's it friends! I hope you enjoyed reading my story for today.  It was indeed an educational experience to know something about Kaybiang Tunnel and the fame it will bring to the province of Cavite.  Until the next blog, let us be inspired in the beauty of the Philippines!  and to all bucket list adventurers out there, let us continue to make the list longer as long as we are still living to tell the story!  Keep healthy! Travel and Tell!