The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) plans to spend at least P16 billion to rehabilitate the Maharlika Highway, a key north-south route left largely untouched for over 40 years.

“There’s no final cost yet, but I think the minimum is about P16 billion. That’s the initial figure I saw, but it could increase. A significant amount of spending is required for Maharlika (because) it stretches from North Luzon to Mindanao. It’s really in bad shape,” Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon said in a media briefing on Monday.

Dizon said the DPWH will finalize the spending figures after on-site assessments of the highway in Bicol on Friday and Saturday, and coordination with the House Infrastructure Committee which plans to request official documents to track the department’s planned projects and allocations.

The Maharlika Highway — also known as the Pan-Philippine Highway — stretches over 3,300 kilometers linking Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao through a network of roads, expressways, bridges, and roll on-roll off (ro-ro) routes.

Despite its vital role in linking the country, the highway has seen no major rehabilitation since its completion in the late 1970s.

“The Maharlika Highway, for your information, has not been rehabilitated since it was built. Forty-plus years since it was completed, and it hasn’t had a major rehabilitation. That’s why it needs attention. And it’s really a burden on our fellow citizens,” Dizon said.

Aside from the Maharlika Highway, the DPWH is also planning the major rehabilitation of the C5 Road (Circumferential Road 5), a major beltway in Metro Manila linking the cities of Taguig, Pasig, Quezon City and Las Piñas.

The network of roads and bridges — including major interchanges like the C5-Ortigas flyover and the newer C5 Link Expressway — keeps Metro Manila moving, offering alternative express routes despite the area’s notorious traffic congestion.

Despite being at the center of a massive flood control corruption scandal, the DPWH received the second-largest allocation in this year’s national budget — P530.9 billion, about 40 percent less than its original request.

Its funding is second only to the Department of Education, which was allocated P1.015 trillion, its largest budget to date.