CITY OF MALOLOS—Bulacan and Pampanga areas of the Manila North Road (MNR) are now made tougher and sturdier to accommodate volume of trucks of goods going to and from Metro Manila and Northern Luzon through an initial eight year 2018-2026 P2.5 billion worth rehabilitation project.
Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Region 3 director Roseller Tolentino said major portions of the 33.56 kilometers 4-lane Bulacan areas of the MNR, also long known as MacArthur highway are now further restrengthened through reinforced concrete materials.
Portions in Apalit and San Simon in Pampanga also underwent similar rehabilitation with reinforced concrete materials.
In a recent Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas held at the DPWH region 3 office in San Fernando, Pampanga, Tolentino said that Bulacan being the gateway of Metro Manila to Central and Northern Luzon converges in its major highways like the MNR, heavy trucks and trailers transporting vital agricultural goods and, industrial materials including quarried mineral products which require the agency’s stepped up measures.
The rehabilitation started in 2018 and until this year through a total P1.8 billion funds and an additional P700 million in 2025 from the funds of the DPWH region 3 office until the full project is completed in 2026.
DPWH region 3 assistant director Melquiades Sto. Domingo however told NEWS CORE that the reinforced concrete is the DPWH ultimate solution in addressing the heavy duty and toughness demand of the national roads these days.
He said the Maharlika Highway will also be similarly rehabilitated with reinforced concrete. The materials are costly but the national highways must meet the demand for national highway’s sturdiness.
Even the thickness of the roads were increased today to 28-30 centimeters (cm) compared to 23-25 during the previous years, Sto. Domingo also said.
“Currently, the focus is on reinforcing selected sections of the MacArthur highway, particularly those that have been implemented since 2023 and this includes Bulacan. But, we will complete the reinforcement of the whole MNR or the MacArthur highway and the Maharlika Highway in the near future. This prioritization is due to the strategic importance of these two national highways as a route for trucks traveling between Manila and the northern regions,” Sto. Domingo added.
Reinforced concrete
According to Henry Alcantara, head of the DPWH Bulacan first district engineering office, the rehabilitation of the MacArthur highway now requires them to use steel bars in the middle section as reinforced concrete materials.
Reinforced concrete is a composite material that combines concrete and reinforcement, typically steel bars. The reinforcement provides additional strength and durability to the structure, making it capable of withstanding greater loads and forces.
Bulacan’s MacArthur highway stretches from the City of Meycauayan, Marilao, Bocaue, Balagtas, Guiguinto, City of Malolos and Calumpit.
However, Tolentino said, protection of the national highway is not a sole obligation and responsibility of their agency. He said they are looking forward to the passage of a bill filed in congress recently for an increase in the penalty on overloaded trucks and trailers.
Bill on increased penalty for anti-overloading
Bulacan Fifth District Rep. Ambrosio Cruz Jr. filed on August 2022, House Bill 2949, “An Act Increasing the Penalty for Overloading Trucks and Trailers, Amending for the Purpose, Sections 6 and 7 of RA 8794, An Act Imposing a Motor Vehicle User’s Charge on Owners of All Types of Motor Vehicles and for Other Purposes or the Anti-Overloading law” as amended by RA 11239”.
The bill proposes that the penalty for the first offense or violation increased to P50,000, P100,000 for the second offense and for the third offense, P150,000 and an increase of P100,000 on the fourth and subsequent offense and 1 year ban in usage of national highways. The vehicle shall also be impounded by the Department of Transportation (DOTr).
According to RA 8794, the penalty for the overloading is 25% of the Motor Vehicle User’s Charge.
Also, in the proposed bill, the maximum weight permitted or the total gross weight of trucks and trailers including its load and content shall not exceed 30,000 kilograms.
Tolentino also said during the Kapihan that they cannot perfect the act of catching violators of the anti-overloading law despite existing operations of weighing scales in many strategic locations along and at the approach of the MNR because other than the low amount of penalty, the DPWH has no police power to issue tickets.
In his previous assignment, he said, there was an implemented memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the DOTr and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) against overloading trucks and trailers.
