MORE NEWS, MOUNTAIN PROVINCE

Stricter implementation of overloading rules ordered

BONTOC, Mountain Province. Public works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane, Jr. has directed all his field offices nationwide to strictly implement tighter rules against overloading along all roads to prevent the rapid deterioration of concrete and asphalt pavements.

Ebdane’s order came to help reduce the increasing government expenditures for the maintenance of various roads which are damaged due to the passing of overloaded vehicles, especially cargo trucks.

Engineer Mariano Alquiza, DPWH regional director, said aside from imposition of stiff fines, owners and drivers of overloaded vehicles are obliged to unload their excess cargo on the site of the weigh bridges before they will be allowed to proceed to their points of destination.

In the Cordillera, the Regional Development Council bared the 20-year economic life of the concrete pavements could be lessened due to the continuous passing of overloaded trucks which bring agricultural crops from the farms to the markets.

The RDC noted the long struggle to gain national government attention for the rehabilitation of various roadlines would be in vain if the pavements would easily deteriorate due to the passing of overloaded vehicles daily.

However, Alquiza informed RDC members they are now looking for available sites near the agency’s weigh bridges where warehouses could be established to serve as storage areas for the unloaded items from the overloaded cargo trucks.
Under the anti-overloading law, 6-wheeleter trucks are only allowed to have a maximum axial load of 13.5 tons whereby 20 percent of its load must be concentrated in the front axle while the 80 percent must be equally distributed to the remaining axles of the vehicle.

Alquiza, chairman of the RDC’s infrastructure committee, pointed out they are obliged to strictly enforce Ebdane’s directive in the light of growi8hng concerns being raised by stakeholders on the safety of motorists plying the different national roads due to the prevalence of overloaded vehicles.

Earlier, local vegetable truckers and traders assailed the strict implementation of the provisions of the anti-overloading law along national roads in the Luzon area since it had resulted in the reduction of their supposed income from each shipment of cargo as they appealed to concerned government agencies to relax the strict implementation of the anti-overloading rules.

Prior to the implementation of the anti-overloading law, 6-wheeler trucks could load a maximum of 16 to 18 tons of cargo while a 10-wheelter truck could be loaded a cargo of over 28 tons which is detrimental to the safety of the motoring public especially in highways.

Alquiza added the strict implementation of the anti-overloading law would help reserve the longer economic life of various roads in the cordillera that are now undergoing rehabilitation, particularly phases 2 and 3 of the halsema highway, the Bontoc-Tabuk-Tuguegarao road, the Cervantes-Sabangan road, the Abatan-Mankayan-Cervantes road and the Baguio-Nueva- Vizcaya road. -- Dexter A. See


2,000 Mt Prov studes enjoy full scholarship
BONTOC, Mountain Province – The full scholarship being enjoyed by nearly 2,000 students of the Mountain Province State Polytechnic College here will still continue even with the untimely demise of its benefactor, the late Rep. Victor S. Dominguez.

Dr. Nieves A. Dacyon, MPSPC president, bared this adding those interested to avail of the program should formally write Kalinga Rep. Manuel S. Agyao, the congressional caretaker of the province, and await the decision of the screening committee.

Earlier, Agyao assured the people of Mountain Province , during a recent visit, that he will pursue the projects left out by the late congressman which includes the grant of full college scholarship to bonafide students from the province who are currently enrolled at the MPSPC.

Under the program, students who are able to meet the qualifications set by the screening committee would be granted free tuition and miscellaneous fees provided that they will be able to maintain average grades during their studies.

The program has an annual allocation of P10 million, P7 million from the Priority Development Assistance Fund of Dominguez and another P3 million from the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples.

MPSPC is the first public higher education institution in the country to offer such program to help the parents of indigent students shoulder the expensive cost of earning a descent education to uplift their respective families from poverty.

Dacyon shared the view of Dominguez and other provincial officials that providing the young generation with the proper education would bring forth economic development in the province because the youth will be trained to become productive and responsible citizens of the country.

Furthermore, she asserted education is the best inheritance that one can give his or her children since it could not be easily taken away from them and it could bring one to greater heights once the knowledge and skills learned will be used to the hilt.

Encouraged by the legacy left by Dominguez, the provincial government and several municipal governments have also set aside certain funds to finance the education of their chosen scholars who are also enrolled at the MPSPC.

The school official cited the “bayanihan spirit” of local officials and various sectors in pursuit towards the attainment of a professional populace is very much alive, thus, the same should continue to usher in more support for the tertiary education of deserving students from the different communities.

Dacyon emphasized education of the people should be one of the primordial concerns of local officials in order to allow the young generation to be able to hurdle the difficult times and be the ones to make a difference not only in the province but also in the country in the coming years.

Students expressed their gratitude to all those who have exerted extra effort in ensuring the continuity of the noble education program which has bee instrumental in the education of their brothers and sisters in the past three years. – Dexter A. See