MANILA, Philippines — Public Works and Highways chief Manuel Bonoan on Tuesday said there is a need to conduct “preventive maintenance” on some roads even if they appear to be undamaged.
According to Bonoan, it would be beneficial to repave roads before they start to deteriorate.
“It is actually preventive maintenance and reconstruction. There is a point when the road starts to deteriorate and it would be more economical to undertake preventive maintenance,” said Bonoan during the Senate subcommittee on finance’s hearing on the proposed 2024 budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
Bonoan said some roads appear to be undamaged but have actually begun to deteriorate.
“It would be more economical to repave it at that point in time so that we can actually save the base and subbase,” said Bonoan.
Later into the hearing, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III questioned Bonoan’s answer, saying that it was too technical.
“The answer was very technical. Mahirap paniwalaan eh. It goes against the inputs of our senses dahil nakikita ng mata mo, maayos pa eh, tapos sasabihin sayo – hindi sa ilalim bulok na ‘yan. And yet kapag may nakita kang bulok na e hindi naman inaaksyunan,” said Pimentel.
(The answer was very technical. It’s hard to believe. It goes against the inputs of our senses because your eyes can see that the road is fine, but then you’ll hear that it’s rotten underneath. And yet when you see something rotten, the agency does not act on it.)
In response, Bonoan said the department has “a good inventory of the conditions of roads and bridges” in the Philippines.
“We have a pavement management system which tells us actually what is the condition of the road, similar to the bridges, and what kind of intervention we should undertake,” he explained.
The DPWH’s proposed allocation for 2024 is P822.200 billion. This amount is lower than the agency’s P824.200 billion budget under the 2023 General Appropriations Act.
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