POTHOLES. A portion of the damaged highway in Samar province. The 109-km. damaged road in Samar province along the nautical highway that links Luzon to Mindanao will only get a budget of PHP18.35 million for its repair this year, the Department of Public Works and Highways said on Tuesday (April 18, 2023). (Photo courtesy of Calbayog Update)
TACLOBAN CITY – The 109-km. damaged road in Samar province along the nautical highway that links Luzon to Mindanao will only get a budget of PHP18.35 million for its repair this year, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said on Tuesday.
The current budget is not enough to fix the bumpy road, specifically in the second congressional district of Samar province, according to DPWH 8 (Eastern Visayas) Director Edgar Tabacon.
“We hope we will get enough funds in 2024 after a big reduction of funds for road maintenance in the past three years. The section of Maharlika Highway in Samar badly needs rehabilitation since the soil is unstable and some road sections were not concreted before the application of asphalt overlay,” he said.
The PHP18.35 million budget for Samar’s 2nd District this year is way below the PHP100 million outlay for maintenance set aside before 2020, Tabacon said.
The reduction of maintenance funds is one of the consequences of the abolition of the Road Board, established through Republic Act 8794 to ensure the efficient management of the Motor Vehicle User’s Charge (MVUC), also known as “road user’s tax."
The MVUC used to be the major source of funds for road maintenance nationwide.
In 2019, then-president Rodrigo Duterte signed a law abolishing the Road Board and allowing the disposition of funds from the MVUC.
Earlier, a multi-sectoral group convened by the three Catholic bishops in Samar Island asked the national government to prioritize the repair of the rough Maharlika Highway.
Members of the Samar Island Partnership for Peace and Development recently passed a resolution addressed to the national government through the office of House of Representatives Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez for the immediate funding and repair of the almost 400-km. Maharlika highway in Samar province.
The road stretch is from Santa Rita, Samar to the port in Allen, Northern Samar, the region’s exit point to Luzon.
The resolution asks for the release of a PHP845 million budget for the repair and maintenance of highways in the 2nd District of Samar.
Last year, the DPWH proposed a budget of PHP1.86 billion to rehabilitate the 102-km. primary highway from Sta. Rita town to Catbalogan City in Samar province but was not approved.
Late last year, the Japan-based Katahira and Engineers International checked the deteriorating sections of the Pan-Philippine Highway in Leyte and Samar Islands for possible foreign funding.
The DPWH is still waiting for feedback from the Japanese firm. (PNA)
