Question & AnswerQ&A (Republic Act No. 7693)
The Act may be cited as the "Philippine Highway Act of nineteen hundred fifty-three."
The Act controls the disposition of funds accruing to the Highway Special Fund, apportionment of highway funds, designation of highways for national aid, administration, maintenance, improvement, reconstruction, construction of highway projects, classification of highways, and rights of way use and acquisition.
The term 'highway' includes rights of way, bridges, ferries, drainage structures, signs, guard rails, and protective structures related to highways.
Maintenance means constant repairs to preserve smooth surfaces and operation of existing ferries but excludes extraordinary repairs or reconstruction.
Construction involves supervising, inspecting, actual building, and expenses including right-of-way costs incidental to building a highway, except locating, surveying, and mapping.
The Highway Special Fund is a special trust account in the National Treasury composed of proceeds from taxes on motor fuel and other highway-related collections, to be apportioned and expended for highway purposes under the Act.
Up to 3% may be used for administrative expenses, up to 1% for highway equipment and machinery, and 6% for contingent emergency expenditures for provinces, cities, and municipalities suffering serious losses.
Fifty percent of apportionable sums are released regularly for maintenance, distributed among municipalities, provinces, and chartered cities based on population, equal shares, road length, and motor vehicle registration statistics.
National aid equal to at least half of a province or city's maintenance share (based on lengths of provincial or city roads) is released upon certification that the local government matches at least half the maintenance cost.
Fifty percent of apportionable balances are distributed with sixty percent based on potential agricultural and industrial area, twenty percent on vehicle-kilometerage, fifteen percent on property assessments, and five percent equally to all municipalities.
Anyone who usurps right-of-way, converts public highways to private use, obstructs highways, or uses highway ditches for private purposes can be fined up to 200 pesos or imprisoned for up to three months.
Only durable surfaces and materials that meet current and anticipated traffic needs are approved. Rights of way must meet minimum width standards unless impractical due to physical or legal conditions.
The Secretary of Public Works and Communications, upon recommendation by the Director of Public Works, appoints personnel, giving preference to current permanent employees based on training, experience, and length of service.
No money is to be spent for new projects within 45 days before elections, except for maintenance work within set limits, payment for awarded contracts, and costs for preparation of working drawings and estimates.
The Secretary must prepare, publish, and distribute maps showing primary and national aid highway systems within one year of the Act's effect and update these maps annually thereafter.