CAMARINES Sur 3rd District Rep. Nelson Legacion has urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to order the full repair and modernization of the Andaya Highway and key portions of the Maharlika Highway, warning that decades of neglect have turned one of the country’s most important road corridors into a choke point threatening Bicol’s mobility and economic stability.
In a privilege speech on Friday, Legacion said the national highways linking Quezon province to Camarines Sur have deteriorated so severely that they no longer reflect isolated maintenance lapses but three decades of repeated failures, structural neglect and unaccountable public spending. The worsening condition, he said, places millions of travelers at risk and continues to undermine connectivity to the Visayas and Mindanao.
He cautioned that the same defects that crippled the route in previous years may again disrupt supply chains and holiday travel unless the government intervenes decisively.
“One more failure along this corridor will once again paralyze movement across Southern Luzon. We cannot afford a repeat of the 2024 crisis,” he said.
‘This is suffering, not travel’
Legacion cited his own 12.5-hour bus journey from Cubao to Naga City on November 26, a trip that stretched to 14.5 hours including transfers. The route, he said, used to take a maximum of eight hours.
“This is not travel. This is suffering,” he said, describing cracked pavements, recurring sinkholes and bottlenecks that commuters and transport operators face daily. He noted that the stretch of the Andaya Highway in Camarines Sur and the Maharlika Highway segments in Pagbilao, Gumaca, Lopez and Calauag in Quezon have remained in catastrophic condition despite decades of funding.
Billions spent, little change
According to Legacion, successive administrations have funneled hundreds of billions of pesos into road rehabilitation and modernization, yet the same areas continue to fail year after year, sometimes within months of project completion. He said the recurring problems cannot be blamed solely on soil conditions, heavy trucks or rainfall.
“This is the consequence of a system that rewards moral hazard,” he said. He cited contractors with repeated substandard performance, lax enforcement of quality standards and long-standing acceptance of temporary fixes. “The cycle of deterioration has remained unbroken.”
A call for officials to experience the suffering firsthand
Legacion invited key national officials including Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon, Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez, House infrastructure chair Rep. Romeo Momo Sr. and Senate public works chair Sen. Mark Villar to travel by land to Bicol and see the conditions themselves. “Their experience will be ipsa loquitur. It will speak louder than any report,” he said.
He extended the same invitation to Speaker Bodjie Dy , Senior Deputy Majority Leader Sandro Marcos, Senate President Tito Sotto and President Marcos Jr. He stressed the urgency of preventing another holiday travel bottleneck in the region.
‘Mr. President, make this your legacy’
The lawmaker also reminded Sen. Erwin Tulfo of his campaign promise to address the Andaya Highway’s condition, saying Bicolanos deserve alternatives to unsafe and unreliable land travel.
Legacion closed with a direct appeal to the President. “Mr. President, please make this the chapter where the story changes. Please order the complete repair and modernization of this corridor, your legacy.”
He said fixing the Andaya–Maharlika corridor, the country’s main land artery to the southern regions, would deliver immediate and long-term benefits. “No other infrastructure intervention will bring more lasting relief,” he said. “This is one of the most vital national arteries, yet also one of the most neglected. It is time to end decades of suffering.”
CAMARINES Sur 3rd District Rep. Nelson Legacion has urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to order the full repair and modernization of the Andaya Highway and key portions of the Maharlika Highway, warning that decades of neglect have turned one of the country’s most important road corridors into a choke point threatening Bicol’s mobility and economic stability.
In a privilege speech on Friday, Legacion said the national highways linking Quezon province to Camarines Sur have deteriorated so severely that they no longer reflect isolated maintenance lapses but three decades of repeated failures, structural neglect and unaccountable public spending. The worsening condition, he said, places millions of travelers at risk and continues to undermine connectivity to the Visayas and Mindanao.
He cautioned that the same defects that crippled the route in previous years may again disrupt supply chains and holiday travel unless the government intervenes decisively.
“One more failure along this corridor will once again paralyze movement across Southern Luzon. We cannot afford a repeat of the 2024 crisis,” he said.
‘This is suffering, not travel’
Legacion cited his own 12.5-hour bus journey from Cubao to Naga City on November 26, a trip that stretched to 14.5 hours including transfers. The route, he said, used to take a maximum of eight hours.
“This is not travel. This is suffering,” he said, describing cracked pavements, recurring sinkholes and bottlenecks that commuters and transport operators face daily. He noted that the stretch of the Andaya Highway in Camarines Sur and the Maharlika Highway segments in Pagbilao, Gumaca, Lopez and Calauag in Quezon have remained in catastrophic condition despite decades of funding.
Billions spent, little change
According to Legacion, successive administrations have funneled hundreds of billions of pesos into road rehabilitation and modernization, yet the same areas continue to fail year after year, sometimes within months of project completion. He said the recurring problems cannot be blamed solely on soil conditions, heavy trucks or rainfall.
“This is the consequence of a system that rewards moral hazard,” he said. He cited contractors with repeated substandard performance, lax enforcement of quality standards and long-standing acceptance of temporary fixes. “The cycle of deterioration has remained unbroken.”
A call for officials to experience the suffering firsthand
Legacion invited key national officials including Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon, Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez, House infrastructure chair Rep. Romeo Momo Sr. and Senate public works chair Sen. Mark Villar to travel by land to Bicol and see the conditions themselves. “Their experience will be ipsa loquitur. It will speak louder than any report,” he said.
He extended the same invitation to Speaker Bodjie Dy , Senior Deputy Majority Leader Sandro Marcos, Senate President Tito Sotto and President Marcos Jr. He stressed the urgency of preventing another holiday travel bottleneck in the region.
‘Mr. President, make this your legacy’
The lawmaker also reminded Sen. Erwin Tulfo of his campaign promise to address the Andaya Highway’s condition, saying Bicolanos deserve alternatives to unsafe and unreliable land travel.
Legacion closed with a direct appeal to the President. “Mr. President, please make this the chapter where the story changes. Please order the complete repair and modernization of this corridor, your legacy.”
He said fixing the Andaya–Maharlika corridor, the country’s main land artery to the southern regions, would deliver immediate and long-term benefits. “No other infrastructure intervention will bring more lasting relief,” he said. “This is one of the most vital national arteries, yet also one of the most neglected. It is time to end decades of suffering.”
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