In a magnificent gesture of generosity, the government of Japan in the late 1960s offered to build in this country a highway that would be national in scope. Responding to the generous gesture, the Philippine government offered to name the highway, which would run from Northern Luzon to Southern Mindanao, the Philippines-Japan Friendship Highway. The highway’s name was later changed to Maharlika Highway.
About one-third of the highway is accounted for by the portion running from Quezon to the southern tip of Luzon. That stretch starts from the Quezon town of Tiaong to the Sorsogon municipality of Matnog.
Economic relations between Quezon-Bicol and the rest of Luzon are conducted mostly by land, and the Maharlika Highway is the only land link between those two parts of this country’s largest island. Economic traffic – people and goods – between Northern Luzon and Southern Luzon has no choice but to use the Maharlika Highway to get to destination.
The government and people of Japan should be basking in the glory of the major transportation facility that they gave to the Philippines. And the Filipino people should be pleased that they have a highway that allows them to travel up and down the country safely, speedily and comfortably. Unfortunately, this is not the case in both instances.
“The Maharlika Highway is the worst highway in the Calabarzon region [Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon],” said the Bishop of Gumaca, Quezon, Euginius Cañete, in a recent open letter to the people of his diocese.
“Every day complaints – accompanied by photos and videos of damaged roads, heavy traffic, spoiled goods and accidents – go viral on Facebook,” Bishop Cañete wrote.
Continuing his criticism, the bishop said: “The responses to these complaints have been temporary fixes. Potholes are covered with soil. Asphalt in laid over broken concrete. Occasionally concrete is dug up, but before the entire project is completed cracks appear in the earlier sections. These are short-term, piecemeal solutions; no long-term repairs are being made.”
In his attack against the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Bishop Cañete can have no ally more powerful than the governor of Quezon. Governor Angeline Tan has minced no words in his criticism of DPWH.
In a recent interview, Governor Tan had this to say on the issue: “Quezon province is now being called the lubak (pothole) capital of the Philippines. I estimate that about 70 percent of Maharlika Highway in Quezon is in dire need of repair.”
These are terrible indictments of those responsible for the maintenance of a highway of which Japan’s government and people were once justifiably proud. One wonders what they must now be thinking. Perhaps they are thinking that it’s just as well that Japan no longer appears in the name of the highway.
Chief among those who bear blame for the state and continued deterioration of Maharlika Highway are DPWH, Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the four Congressmen – yes, there are four of them – of Quezon. Together, they share the blame for the failure to appropriate, allocate and release funds for the rehabilitation and continued satisfactory maintenance of one of this country’s most important transportation arteries.
“We are doing our best to fix the roads with the available funds, but the funds are simply enough not enough,” said the district engineer of DPWH’s Quezon district in a recent interview. He said it all.
A final word. Most Filipinos wonder why the Philippines continues to fail to attract much foreign direct investment (FDI). The treatment of Maharlika Highways is a part of the explanation.
(llagasjessa@yahoo.com)