Faulty weighbridge renders anti-overloading law ineffective

BAYOMBONG, Philippines - Truckers plying the national roads in Cagayan Valley disregard the anti-overloading law due to a defective Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) weigh bridge in Calitlitan, Aritao. The regional office of the DPWH had been urging agriculture traders and cargo haulers to strictly comply with Republic Act 8794 (RA), the Anti-Overloading law, to minimize damage of national roads and bridges. But an engineer from the DPWH provincial office in Nueva Vizcaya, who asked not to be named, admitted that the department’s weighbridge in Aritao, one of only two government-operated weigh bridges in the region, have been rendered inoperative since December. The other weighbridge is located in Claveria, Cagayan. Talking to GMANews.TV, the engineer averred they have already sent several requests to their regional office for the replacement of the defective digital scale but no action has been done yet. “We have tried communicating with the regional office but I think we have to wait a little more because there might be no budget allocated for this yet," said the source.. The Aritao weigh bridge begun its operations during the early 80’s. “It would be better if the overused platform will be replaced too so that trucks can be weighed more efficiently. A non-working weighbridge makes the enforcement of RA 8794 futile," said the source. The defective weighbridge has been blamed by motorists traversing the steep zig-zag road of Santa Fe town, where heavy road traffic regularly occur due to overturned trucks overloaded with cargo. The gridlocks cause inconvenience to travelers and undue delay to the transport of goods to and from the region. A report from DPWH Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane revealed that about P13 billion is spent annually on repairs alone for 30,000 kilometers of national roads, “but it could easily bloat to P20 billion due to irresponsible overloading." A study by the Road Information and Management Support System stated that most of the offenses occurred in Northern and Central Luzon areas. Last year, the provincial office of DPWH reported that 2,942 of the 3,760 cargo trucks passing along the national road that had been weighed were found to be overloaded. The alarming figures caused Ebdane to instruct all DPWH weighbridge monitors to be vigilant in enforcing RA 8794 and to report accomplishments. The truck’s legal load limit in the country should not exceed 13.5 ton per axle. In contrast, studies by the department showed that the US has set the limit to 9.1 metric ton/axle, between 11.5 to 13 MT/axle in Europe and between 9.1 and 12 MT/axle in some Asian countries. - GMANews.TV