Ra 917
Ra 917
Ra 917
917
ARTICLE I
Section 1. Short title. — This Act may be cited as the “Philippine Highway Act
of nineteen hundred and fifty-three.”
Section 2. Scope of Act. — The provisions of this Act shall control the
disposition of all funds accruing to the Highway Special Fund; the disposition of
general funds when so provided by law; the manner of apportionment and
conditions under which such apportionment shall be released; the selection and
designation of highways or highway projects to receive nationald; the
administration, maintenance, improvement, reconstruction and construction
expenditures on highway projects; the classification of highways; and the widths,
acquisition and use of rights-of-way.
ARTICLE II
Definitions
Section 3. Words and phrases defined. — When used in this Act and in
subsequent Acts having reference thereto, unless the context indicates
otherwise:
(b) The term “Division of Highways” means the division of the Bureau of Public
Works that has charge of the administration of highways, and includes any
regional provincial or city department, regional engineering division, section,
engineering district, or office suitably equipped and organized or official having
adequate powers to discharge the duties herein required.
(c) The term “maintenance” means the constant making of needed repairs to
preserve a smooth-surfaced highway, and operation of existing ferries, but shall
not be held to include extraordinary repairs nor reconstruction.
(d) The term “construction” means the supervising, inspecting, actual building,
and all expenses, including the costs of right-of-way, incidental to construction
of a highway, except locating, surveying and mapping.
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(e) The term “reconstruction” means a widening or a rebuilding of a highway
or any portion thereof to make it a continuous road of sufficient width and
strength to care adequately for traffic needs.
(f) The term “improvement” means any repair of a highway or any portion
thereof that results in its betterment by virtue of the use of materials of a quality
superior to those repaired or the employment of more skillful workmanship
involving expenditure of money in excess of the normal cost of ordinary
reconditioning or replacement.
(g) The term “local funds” include funds raised under the authority of a
province, chartered city, or municipality; allotments or internal revenue accruing
by law to their general funds and the “road bridge” funds; and other revenues
accruing to their general funds and made available by resolution of the Board or
Council concerned for expenditure under the control of the Division of Highways,
but does not include apportionments or allotments from the Highway Special
Fund.
(h) The term “primary roads” means roads which form parts of the main trunk-
line system continuous in extent; roads which are now declared national roads
except those not forming parts of the continuous system, such as roads leading
to national ports, seaports and parks, etc., or coast-to-coast roads not forming
continuous part of the trunk-line system.
(i) The term “secondary roads” shall include all access roads, national,
provincial and city roads and streets forming the secondary trunk-line system
not classified as “primary roads,” but shall exclude “feeder roads.”
(j) The term “vehicle-kilometer” means the unit measure of road use expressed
by the product of the actual number of motor vehicles passing thru a given
section of a road in a specified unit of time multiplied by the length of the section
in kilometers. “Vehicle-kilometerage” is the sum total of the vehicle-kilometers
computed for a given highway system, and for the purpose of this Act shall be
the sum of all the products of the inferred annual average twenty-four hours
traffic count multiplied by the respective lengths in kilometers of the control
sections where the traffic counts had been actually and periodically observed.
(k) The “right-of-way” means the land secured and reserved to the public for
highway purposes.
ARTICLE III
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Section 4. Amendment to Commonwealth Act Numbered Four hundred and
sixty-six. — Section three hundred and sixty-one of Commonwealth Act
Numbered Four hundred and sixty-six, as amended by section one of Republic
Act Numbered Three hundred and fourteen, is amended to read:
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and all needed and necessary accessories and spare parts, and for the
establishment and/or maintenance of the necessary repair shops, motor pools,
storage depots, laboratory, material testing and other highway constructionds
and facilities by the Division of Highways when ever deemed necessary by the
Director of Public Works and approved by the Secretary of Public Works and
Communications.
(d) Unexpended contingent fund. — In the event, however, that the sums
corresponding to the contingent emergency, fund provided in the proceeding
paragraph, or part thereof, remain unexpended after the fiscal year during which
it has been set aside, the same shall be made available for the investigation,
survey, and improvement of roads in the National System at the discretion of the
Secretary of Public Works and Communications upon the recommendation of
the Director of Public Works.
After making the deduction authorized by this section, the said Secretary shall
apportion the remainder of the Highway Special Fund among the different
provinces, chartered cities and municipalities in the manner provided for in the
next article.
ARTICLE IV
Apportionment
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Fund shall be apportioned among the different provinces, chartered cities, and
municipalities for improvement, paving, reconstruction and wherever practicable
for construction of roads, streets, and bridges in the manner and under the
conditions set forth in section ten of this Act to be released by the Secretary of
Public Works and Communications, upon the recommendation of the Director of
Public Works: Provided, That seventy-five per centum of the sums shall be
released during any year until the total number of lineal meters of existing
temporary timber bridges and other non-permanent stream-crossingds shall
have been reduced to below twenty-five per cent of the total number of lineal
meters of bridges and other stream-crossingds inventoried in the Philippines.
Thirty per centum equally among the provinces and chartered cities.
Forty per centum to the provinces and chartered cities in the ratio which the
combined lengths of all existing unabandoned roads and streets in each province
or city bear to the combined existing unabandoned roads and streets in the
Philippines as inventoried by the Division of Highways and approved by the
Secretary of Public Works and Communications during the next previous year:
Provided, That for the purposes of this section only one-fourth of the lengths of
concrete roads and one-half of those of high-type bituminous asphalt roads shall
be counted in proportioning the shares of the different provinces, and chartered
cities.
Fifteen per centum to the provinces and cities in proportion to the number of
motor vehicles registered in the province or city.
Except when otherwise provided in this Act, the Subprovinces of Benguet and
Siquijor of the Mountain Province and the Province of Oriental Negros,
respectively, and all chartered cities shall each be considered as a province for
the purposes of this section.
(b) Nationald for maintenance of provincial and city roads, streets and bridges.
— The nationald to be extended to any province or city for the maintenance of
provincial or city roads, streets and bridges, shall be deducted from the total
regular share apportioned to each province or city under this section. This sum
shall be a percentage of the share of the province or city equal to at least one-
half of but not more than the ratio which the combined length of provincial or
city roads bears to the total combined lengths of national, provincial and city
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roads in the province or city as counted in the same manner as provided in
paragraph (a) hereof. The remainder shall be made available for expenditure for
maintenance of national roads in said province or city.
Within sixty days after the passage of this Act and periodically as may be
required by regulations to be promulgated by the Secretary of Public Works and
Communications, the provincial board or city council concerned shall designate
the existing and unabandoned provincial or city roads actually serving motor
vehicular traffic upon which thisd shall be expended and shall cause their
respective district or city engineers to prepare a maintenance program and
estimates thereon. Upon approval of the program and estimates by the Director
of Public Works, the provincial board or city council concerned shall provide in
their annual road and bridge budget an appropriation equal to one-half the total
estimated maintenance requirement, to be taken from local fund or road and
bridge fund. This appropriation shall be certified by the provincial or city
treasurer concerned and made available for expenditures by the Division of
Highways. Upon receipt by the Director of Public Works of this certificate of
availability of local funds, he shall recommend to the Secretary of Public Works
and Communications the periodic release of the nationald provided in this
section which shall be applied to and cover the other half of the aforesaid total
estimated maintenance requirement.
Nod for maintenance of provincial or city roads shall be released by the Secretary
of Public Works and Communications in excess of the amount equal to that
appropriated by the provincial board or city council and in no case shall this
amount be more than half of the total estimated maintenance requirement, but
when the province or city of the estimated cost of maintenance as provided for
in this Act, the entire share of the province or city, or the balance thereof, shall
be released on condition that the Secretary of Finance shall certify as to the
inability of such province or city at the end of the fiscal year.
Sixty per centum to provinces and chartered cities in proportion to the potential
area (uncultivated and undeveloped) available for agricultural and industrial
purposes including commercial timber lands as shown by the latest census or
data available in the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and
populated but isolated areas that are served only by existing trails, bullcart-
roads and that are unclassified roads, to be distributed to provinces and cities.
Twenty per centum to provinces and chartered cities in the ratio which the
vehicle-kilometerage of the province or city bears to the total vehicle-
kilometerage recorded in the entire Philippine Highways System as computed
from traffic-flow charts or maps of the different provinces and cities based on the
annual average daily traffic count observed on all classes of national and on first
and second-class provincial and city roads according to the latest available data:
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Provided, That for the purposes of this paragraph, two-thirds of the vehicle-
kilometerage of roads or road sections already paved with concrete and other
high-type pavements shall be excluded in computing the number of vehicle-
kilometers used as basis of proportioning under this paragraph.
Fifteen per centum to provinces and chartered cities in proportion to the amount
of property assessments.
(b) Discretionary funds. — After allocating the regular share as provided in this
section, the remainder of the sum set aside in section eight of this Act shall be
used by the Secretary of Public Works and Communications to increase the
regular share of any province or city maintaining temporary timber bridges and
other non-permanent stream-crossing facilities exceeding in aggregate length
one-half of one per centum of the total lineal meters of such temporary structures
still existing in the Philippine Highway System as shown by the latest available
inventory of highway facilities: Provided, That the total of such discretionary-
additional share of any province or city shall not exceed thirty per centum of its
regular share. The remainder shall be used at the discretion of the Secretary of
Public Works and Communications as furtherd to any province or city for the
construction, reconstruction and improvement of any road integrated into the
national system and of any provincial or city road integrated into the “nationald”
system.
(c) The Secretary of Public Works and Communications may use the
unexpended contingent fund and the balance of the improvement fund tod
municipalities for the improvement or construction of municipal roads provided
that such municipalities shall defray one-third of the cost of improvement of
construction.
Within sixty days after the passage of this Act, and within thirty days after the
close of each fiscal year thereafter, the provincial board or city council concerned
shall select, designate and submit thru the Director of Public Works for approval
by the Secretary of Public Works and Communications a system of provincial or
city “nationald” highways not to exceed ten per centum of the total highway
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kilometerage of such province or city as shown by the records of the Division of
Highways at the time of the passage of this Act.
The Director of Public Works shall likewise within sixty days after the passage of
this Act recommend to the Secretary of Public Works and Communications the
primary and secondary national roads that shall form the nucleus of an
expanding primary and secondary national and “nationald” systems of roads as
planned in a physical program to be prepared by the Division of Highways.
Upon this system of primary and secondary national and “nationald” provincial
and city highways all the regular and discretionary-additional shares
apportioned to each province or city under this section shall be expended, until
otherwise modified as a result of any action taken pursuant to article VIII of this
Act.
Wherever provisions have been made by any province or city for the adequate
maintenance of a system of “nationald” highways and there still remains a
substantial sum for improvement, reconstruction, paving and construction of
roads in their locals funds, the provincial board or city council concerned may
apply to the Secretary of Public Works and Communications for additional
“nationald” for such roads, streets or bridges as said board or city council may
select. If the Secretary of Public Works and Communications finds the projects
feasible and there is a balance in the share of the province or city under this
section still available for such projects equivalent to eighty per centum of the
estimated cost of such projects, he may in his discretion authorize the release
thereof of the condition that the province or city concerned put up the other
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twenty per centum of the cost of such projects from local funds. The Secretary
of Public Works and Communications may promulgate the necessary rules and
regulations to govern the release and expenditure of such additional.
(e) Aid for roads and for bridges to be constructed under the provisions of Act
Numbered Three thousand five hundred, as amended. — The Secretary of Public
Works and Communications may authorize the use of the sum available for
improvement, reconstruction and construction for the payment of sinking fund
and interest on loan that the province or city may be able to secure for the
construction of any bridge, or improvement, reconstruction or construction of
any road section in the “nationald” system, from any banking institution, or from
the revolving fund for toll bridges created under Act Numbered Three thousand
five hundred, as amended in the next section of this Act.
Section 11. Amendment to Act Numbered Three thousand five hundred. — All
provisions of Act Numbered Three thousand five hundred, as amended by
Commonwealth Act Numbered Two hundred and forty-one, to the contrary
notwithstanding, the funds appropriated therein shall be made available for
construction of permanent bridges, free of tolls, to replace any existing temporary
wooden bridge on the national and “nationald” highway systems: Provided,
however, That the annual amortization needed to recover the cost of construction
of the bridge, plus interest at four per centum per annum, shall be paid partly
or wholly from the share of the province or city, as the case may be, from the
Highway Special Fund as provided in the next preceding section.
Section 12. Municipal roads. — Subject to such rules and regulations as the
Secretary of Public Works and Communications may prescribe, the municipal
council shall designate the municipal roads on which the share of the
municipalities from the Highway Special Fund apportioned under section nine,
paragraph (a), of this Act shall be expended. The municipal council concerned
shall formulate a program of work, inventory of municipal roads on which the
money is to be expended, and such work progress reports to show that the money
is being well spent and used for no other purpose than the maintenance of
existing and unabandoned roads, or, in the case of island and interior
municipalities where there are no existing roads, on existing trails the location
of which has been previously approved by him. The Secretary shall have the
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authority to withhold any for municipal roads if he finds the same being misused
or wasted.
Section 13. Publication. — Within one year after this Act take effect, the
Secretary of Public Works and Communications shall prepare, publish and
distribute a map showing the highways that have been selected and approved as
a part of the primary and “nationald” systems, and every year thereafter, he shall
prepare, publish and distribute such an up-to-date map.
ARTICLE V
Section 16. Engineering. — The cost of engineering which shall include surveys,
preparation of plans, specifications and estimates, inspection and unforeseen
contingencies shall not exceed ten per centum of the total estimated cost of
construction.
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ARTICLE VI
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for within-service promotions, periodic and systematic pay increases, rotation of
personnel to broaden technical and professional experience, the establishment
of in-service training programs, and such other means as the Director of Public
Works deems advisable: Provided, That in rotating personnel, no field, district or
regional employee above the rank of foreman shall, except for cause, be rotated
oftener than once every two years not allowed in any assignment longer than six
years.
ARTICLE VII
Section 20. Operation funds. — A budget covering the operation of the Division
of Highways shall be prepared annually as prescribed in section seven, general
provisions, paragraph four of Commonwealth Act Numbered Two hundred and
forty-six, as amended. Such budget shall be prepared at the beginning of each
fiscal year for the next succeeding fiscal year by the Director of Public Works.
Upon approval by the Secretary of Public Works and Communications, said
budget shall be submitted to the President for his approval as required by law.
Section 22. Other expenditures. — A budget for all other sums to be expended
under this Act shall be prepared by the Director of Public Works pursuant to
Commonwealth Act Numbered Two hundred and forty-six. Budget programs for
construction, reconstruction, paving or improvement, shall set up anticipated
highway funds apportionable under section six (b) and section ten of this Act,
against contractual and other obligations to be met out of the anticipated
collections covering into the Highway Special Fund for a period in advance not
longer than twenty-four months. Such program shall include, in the case of
projects to be prosecuted on force-accounts, statements of traveling and other
expenses, including a list of employees entitled thereto; proposed expenditures
of materials, rental charges for/or purchase of highway equipment, machineries,
accessories and spare parts, labor, the cost of acquisition of right-of-way, and
the cost of engineering as defined in section sixteen of this Act. Upon approval
of the Secretary of Public Works and Communications, said budget shall be
submitted to the President for his final approval as required by law.
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highway administration. Such section shall cooperate with the Budget
Commission and General Auditing Office in fiscal accounting, but shall work
independently of these offices in so far as cost accounting, statistical compilation
and analyses thereof for purposes of engineering are concerned. The personnel
for this section shall be paid under section six of this Act, and the necessary
positions therefor shall be provided in the plantilla of the Division of Highways
to be included in the Annual Budget for the operation of said Division.
ARTICLE VIII
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Establishment of an Integrated System of Highways
All the sums allocated under sections six (d), nine and ten of this Act shall
thereafter be expended upon the system of highways established under this
article.
ARTICLE IX
Section 28. Report. — On or before the end of August of each year, the Secretary
of Public Works and Communications shall make a report to the President, which
shall include the detailed statements of the work done, status of each project
undertaken, the allocation of funds and appropriations, an itemized statement
of expenditures and receipts during the preceding fiscal year under this Act, an
itemized statement of the traveling and other expenses, including a list of
employees, their duties, salaries and traveling expenses, if any, and his
recommendations, if any, for new legislation amending or supplementing this
Act. The Secretary of Public Works and Communications shall also make such
special reports as Congress may request.
ARTICLE X
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Section 29. Special provisions. — Upon approval of this Act, no money, whether
from current or from accumulated previous releases, from the Highway Special
Fund shall be spent during a period of forty-five days immediately preceding any
election except for:
(a) Expenditures for purely maintenance work in existing roads, bridges, ferries
and other stream-crossing facilities, the total disbursements of which shall not
exceed the monthly average expenditure for such purposes in the province or
city during the previous year: Provided, That the total monthly disbursement for
all such provinces and cities shall not exceed three million pesos;
(c) Payment for the usual cost of the preparation of working drawings,
specifications, bill of materials, estimates, and other procedures preliminary to
actual construction, including the purchase of materials and equipment.
Section 30. Penalties. — It shall be unlawful for any person to usurp any
portion of a right-of-way, to convert any part of any public highway, bridge, wharf
or trail to his own private use or to obstruct the same in any manner, or to use
any highway ditch for irrigation or other private purposes, and any person so
offending shall be punished by a fine of not more than two hundred pesos or by
imprisonment not exceeding three months.
Any person who shall remove any tool or any roadmaking material from any
highway, or mutilate, damage, destroy, or in any manner interfere with any
public bridge, culvert, drainage canal, road marker, sign, or other road or road-
side development facilities shall be punished under article three hundred and
twenty-eight of the Revised Penal Code.
ARTICLE XI
Final Provisions
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known as The Philippine Road Law, and all Executive Orders, Administrative
Orders, Ordinances, and Regulations inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed.
Section 32. Act, when in effect. — This Act shall take effect upon its approval,
except sections four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and ten hereof which shall take
effect on January first, nineteen hundred and fifty-four.
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