Secretary's Corner
HON.
HERMOGENES EDEJER EBDANE, JR.
Statement:
EBDANE: OVERLOADED TRUCKS WILL
UNLOAD EXCESS WEIGHT AND PAY PENALTIES
Last Friday, during
the DPWH Staff Meeting, I instructed all Regional Directors to
provide trucks at the weighbridges that will ferry excess weight
of commercial cargo trucks over and above the allowable weight limit
per vehicle at the expense of the trucker.
As mandated by RA
8794 or the Anti-Overloading Act, these violators must pay the fine
of 25% of MVUC. However, while we are penalizing them, this does not
prevent them from using the road net carrying their excess weight.
This specific measure
is meant to ensure that violators not only pay the penalty, but more
importantly that overloaded trucks do not get to continue their
journey without unloading the excess weight.
The situation on road
maintenance is a substantial investment. The estimated budget for
the maintenance of 30,000 kms of national roads alone requires P13.5
BILLION annually.
The truckers alleged
that they will lose P5 BILLION if they stick to the weight limit.
Their continuing
violation of the law involves P20 BILLION damage to road nets
annually, which could be spent for other infrastructure projects.
Based on the results
of the study which was conducted from January to October 2006 by the
Road Information and Management Support System (RIMSS), a unit of
the Department of Public Works and Highways, the most number of
offenses happens in the Northern Luzon area, specifically Manila
North Road in Regions 1 and 3, Cagayan Valley Road in Regions 2
and 3, and San Fernando-Olongapo Road in Region 3 with average
overloading of 8-16 percent.
Other hotspot areas
are Cebu-Toledo Wharf Road in Region 7 with 13 percent overloading,
and Butuan City-Cagayan de Oro City route in Region 10 with 5
percent overloading.
The Anti-Overloading
Law mandate maximum weights for all trucks and commercial vehicles
to preserve the road and bridge networks.
The non-compliance
with the Anti-Overloading Law has led to the rapid deterioration of
the road network, resulting in repeated repair work.
The Philippines has
the highest allowable axle load limits in the World.
Compared to the 13.5
mt/axle limit prescribed by RA 8794, other countries have the
following limits: U.S. 9.1 mt/axle, U.K. mt/axle, EU 11.5mt/axle,
France 13.0 mt/axle, Thailand 9.1 mt/axle, Pakistan 12.0 mt/axle,
and India 9.3 mt/axle.
We have already
recommended to Congress that the allowable limit be reviewed.
We are also studying
the possibility of holding the truck operators civilly and
criminally liable for their willful and recurrent violations of the
Anti-Overloading Law.
The overweight trucks
contribute to the destruction of national resources, and those who
own these trucks should be charged accordingly.
We will step up the
campaign against overloading in tandem with the Philippine National
Police and the Land Transportation Office.
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