Public Works Secretary Emmanuel Bonoan said there are many sections of the Daang Maharlika road that are ''not passable due to fallen trees, posts and erosion.''

This was revealed by Bonoan in an interview over dzBB Sunday as the skies began clearing as Severe Tropical Storm ''Paeng'' weakened to a tropical storm.

He said the damage from ''Paeng'' is ''wide'' because the tropical storm traveled from Mindanao to Luzon.

''We have started clearing operations in primary roads so goods and services and relief efforts can pass through,'' he said. ''This is the most important thing that were are doing.''

''There are 45 national roads in the country that are impassable...There are some that are partially passable,'' said Bonoan.

He explained that almost all roads from Iloilo to Antique have many destroyed bridges and road cuts.

He said a big challenge is to fix bridges that were destroyed by ''Paeng''. DMS