LUCENA CITY, Philippines?Public works officials are again bracing for a possible rash of accidents along the Maharlika Highway this coming All Saints? Day, asking motorists to be extra cautious.

Ronnel Tan, head of the Quezon 4th Engineering District of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), said motorists should drive slow and enjoy the scenery along the well-paved highway.

Speeding on the highway, he said, could be fatal.
Police records show accidents along the highway?mostly involving buses and motorcycles?had occurred with alarming regularity.

A week ago, three persons were killed and eight others were injured when two cargo trucks collided head on in Atimonan town.

In August, two buses collided along the diversion road of the highway in Barangay of Domoit here, killing nine passengers and injuring 40 others.

Bonifacio Seguit, DPWH regional director, had earlier ordered DPWH officials in Quezon to saturate the Maharlika Highway with road signs and luminous strips in strategic spots and accident-prone areas.

He said highway maintenance crews had already finished repair of portions of the highway that were damaged by Tropical Storm ?Ondoy.?

The zigzag road between Pagbilao and Atimonan towns were also prepared for the influx of motorists. Railings were painted and damaged ones were replaced.

?The roads are safe and well-maintained. Motorists should only have to follow road signs and directions,? Seguit said.

The DPWH has activated its annual ?Motorists Assistance Program? for the Nov. 1 holiday.

Teams of DPWH men and mechanics would be on standby to help motorists. Tan said these would be stationed in Gumaca and along the Quirino Highway.

Tan appealed to police and village officials to protect road signs from thieves.
The official said thieves had detached steel railings and road signs and sold these to junk shops.
Government data showed that the number of accidents across the country, many of them fatal, had increased by 30 to 40 percent. Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon