The Salapac Tunnel is nominated as a NATIONAL CULTURAL TREASURE.
The Aringay Centennial Tunnel : The Aringay Centennial Tunnel has been named as such. It became 100 years in 2013 and it is now 105 years from the time of its construction. It was one of the last vestiges of American colonization in the North. The Americans had developed Baguio as the summer capital and tourists from the lowland need to have an easy acess to Baguio. They have constructed a railway system that starts from Aringay, passing areas of Tuba, Benguet till Baguio City. But because of increasing cost of construction and the American government lacked enough funds for the purpose, it was stopped. It was thrown to oblivion and soon to be forgotten but World War II erupted. The Japanese used the tunnel as their refuge and camp because of its very strong foundation. After the war, the tunnel was forgotten except for treasure hunters who have thought that the tunnel was the repository of the famous Yamashita gold. Treasure Hunters and then treasure hunters over treasure hunters came to desecrate the tunnel for the search of the proverbial gold. Until 2013 came, the tunnel survived 100 years amidst typhoons, floods, earthquakes, landslides and treasure hunting. The tunnel stood the test of time and thus was aptly named the Centennial Tunnel.
