NOTWITHSTANDING the pandemic, without getting off the car, we had the chance to go out on Saturday morning when we hitched a ride with our son who was inspecting a construction project in Barangay Cabolo-an, Oton, now at its finishing stage.
We even took the opportunity to drive through Oton town and proceeded to our farm in Barangay Galang, Oton and from there followed the newly-paved road that leads to Barangay Calam-isan and all the way towards the beach area in Barangay Trapiche, Oton where there is a highway back to Iloilo City.
We did not go down the vehicle all the way except at the construction site in Barangay Cabolo-an in Oton, but we had a refreshing view of the barangays and the rice farms. Oton is a wide plain bounded by the beach at the southern side where a highway runs to Antique province.
This barangay road passing Barangay Salngan connects all the way to Barangay Trapiche at the beachside of Oton town. We noted a house marked as owned by the mother of “Karen Davila”, the TV personality. The roads are clean and clear, with very few vehicles at this time.
There being a pandemic, there were very few vehicles on the road, even as we returned to the city via the poblacion and Villa de Arevalo before we turned to the highway connecting the latter to Mandurriao district, turning northward after the plaza.
We are glad that the major roads connecting the major towns to the city are wide, clear and well-paved.
Oton town is now like a city, with commercial establishments starting to invade the municipality, especially at the southern end along the highway to southern Iloilo where there are now several commercial establishments like Gaisano and another supermarket establishment. We noted that many stores established here lined up on both sides of the highway.
A little farther, across the bridge in Barangay Trapiche, Oto, the main road have stores selling a variety of fresh fruits, including coconuts, mangoes, bananas, ripe langka, etc. and also sea shells like lampirong for which Oton is known for, plus native products like the famous buko pie of Nang Palang which is even exported to Manila.
The Oton highway that runs along the beach southward towards Antique province has 10 lanes at this portion. It looks like Oton is ready for cityhood, especially with the expansion of Gaisano and a couple more of stores from the city in this part of the highway.
Oton roads are wide, clear and clean as the highway leads to the southern Iloilo towns.
When will Oton become a city?
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GEM OF THOUGHT
“Learn the ropes” – If you learn the ropes, you learn how to do a particular job correctly.
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