Marcos orders DPWH to use savings for Maharlika Highway rehab

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered the Department of Public Works and Highways to immediately rehabilitate the Maharlika Highway using savings generated from the agency’s cost-cutting reforms.

House Minority Leader and 4Ps party-list Rep. Marcelino Libanan said the President’s directive was relayed to him by DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon during a sideline conversation at the December 9 meeting of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council.

Libanan said Marcos made it clear that Dizon should prioritize the restoration of damaged sections of the Maharlika Highway, particularly the Samar stretch, which has long been a source of frustration and embarrassment for Eastern Visayas.

Members of Congress from the Samar provinces welcome the development, Libanan added, noting that lawmakers have been vocal about the delays in repairing the highway.

“Secretary Dizon told me that the DPWH will use the savings from sweeping cost reforms to fund the highway’s long-overdue restoration,” Libanan said.

Libanan, who hails from Eastern Samar, is one of only three House members sitting on the 20-member LEDAC, the government’s highest policy-coordination body chaired by the President.

The council aligns the priority measures of the executive and legislative branches to ensure the timely passage and execution of the government’s development agenda.

Dizon earlier announced that the DPWH expects to generate up to P60 billion in savings for 2026 by aligning the prices of construction materials—such as steel, gravel, and cement—with prevailing market rates.

The reforms aim to eliminate price inflation, curb corruption, and free up funds for more infrastructure projects nationwide.

The Maharlika Highway, also known as Daang Maharlika or the Pan-Philippine Highway, is the country’s longest and most critical transport corridor. Spanning more than 3,300 kilometers from Laoag City in the north to Zamboanga City in the south, it links Luzon, Samar, Leyte, and Mindanao through a network of roads, expressways, bridges, and RORO routes.

It is the backbone of the country’s north–south mobility and a vital conduit for trade, travel, and emergency response.