DPWH wants top, reputable contractors for Maharlika Highway rehab

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will be engaging with the country’s top and most reputable contractors to rehabilitate the Maharlika Highway.

“Typically they do not join government projects, usually they only join in foreign-assisted projects. They never joined DPWH projects. I spoke to them, I want to meet them maybe this week or next week and they have expressed interest to help out in the major projects, the priorities of (President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.) the highest priority of which is Daang Maharlika,” DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon said at a briefing on Tuesday.

The Maharlika Highway, or Pan-Philippine Highway, is the Philippines' primary 3,517-kilometer north-south is a network of roads, expressways, bridges, and ferry services that connect Luzon, Samar, Leyte, and Mindanao. It was proposed in 1965 and completed in the 1970s.

The Public Works chief said that engaging the services of reputable contractors will ensure the efficiency and quality of the project.

“Kung gagawin natin ito ng tama na pangmatagalan at para magawa ‘yun kailangan idisenyo ng tama hindi ‘yung masisira ngayon tapos after six months sira na naman ulit. Hindi na pwede ‘yun,” Dizon said.

(If we want to make it last we have to make its design properly and will not be destroyed after six months. We will not allow that.)

The DPWH chief said the rehabilitation of Maharlika Highway would be done “as early as the end of 2027.” —RF, GMA Integrated News