LUCENA CITY—The Quezon provincial legislative council has asked Gov. David “Jayjay” Suarez to provide 2 to 5 hectares of land along the national highway for the establishment of a weighbridge station to regulate overloading vehicles that cause “billions of pesos” in potential damage while traversing the national roads system in the province.
“The government has been spending billions of pesos in the construction of road system all over the country, which is just being wasted because of these overloading vehicles, so it is high time for the strict implementation of the law against overloading,” Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) provincial board member Ferdinand “Bong” Talabong said in his privilege speech during the regular session on Monday.
Talabong, SP chairman of its committee on laws, has disclosed that the suspension on the enforcement of Republic Act (RA) 8794 against overloading vehicles, such as trailers and haulers, has been lifted already by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) on January 30 so that it is high time to enforce it more assiduously now to protect the national and provincial roads.
“I have talked with the maintenance division of the DPWH and they told me that there must be a strict observance of the law against overloading, but that we need enough space for the installation of weighbridge station to protect our roads from destruction due to overloading vehicles,” he said, adding that without this weighbridge, there is no way to determine or verify the extent or weight of cargo trucks in the province.
Talabong said the province could coordinate with the DPWH in the installation of the weighing bridge, which could be located in Tiaong, Calauag or Tagkawayan towns, to effectively check on overloading vehicles passing Quezon province.
Talabong spearheaded the passage of a resolution asking Government Suarez to provide 2 to 5 hectares of land along the national highway for the installation of weighbridge station to regulate the passage of heavy-loaded truckers and haulers in the province.
Vice Gov. and SP presiding officer Sam Nantes banged the gavel to signal its unanimous approval from all the 12 SP members present.
Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson and Transportation Secretary Joseph A. Emilio Abaya have issued a public advisory on anti-overloading, which suspends the enforcement of the maximum allowable gross vehicle weight (GVW) for trucks/trailers based from the implementing rules and regulations under RA 8794, entitled “An Act Imposing a Motor Vehicle User’s Charge [MVUC] on Owners of all Types of Motor Vehicle and for Other Purposes,” from August 1, 2013 to January 31, 2014, as requested by these heavy vehicles to give them more time to upgrade their transport equipment to conform with the latest GVW.
John Bello