‘Whole-of-a-nation approach,’ engineering to address Marilaque problem-Marbil
A ‘whole-of-nation approach,’ which include engineering and continued law enforcement, according to Philippine National Police (PNP) chief General Rommel Francisco D. Marbil, needs to be done to address the problems along the Marikina-Rizal-Laguna-Quezon or Marilaque Highway which has earned the unsavory ‘highway of death’ tag.
Thus, he said they need the full support of the Department of Public Works and Highways as well as local government units in the area to help address the problem.
Gen. Marbil said that enforcing the law in the area is easy since they can always apprehend motorcycle riders who will be found violating Republic Act 4136 or the Land Transportation Code of the Philippines and other pertinent laws and ordinances issued by LGUs.
However, it should not stop with apprehending violators and impounding their motorcycles. The PNP chief said there is a need to suspend or permanently revoke the driver’s license of habitual offenders who have been described as ‘Kamote Riders’ by their fellows.
PNP-HPG director, Brigadier Gen. Eleazar P. Matta said they have boosted their presence and patrols along the highway following a viral video of two motorcycle riders racing against each other while performing a dangerous stunt.
The two later collided leaving one of them dead and four other bystanders wounded as the fatality crashed into them.
The official has ordered the Regional Highway Patrol Unit 4-A and the Rizal Provincial Highway Patrol Team to increase their round-the-clock presence along the 115-kilometer long road particularly along Palo-Alto, Mount Masungi and the Devils’ Curve particularly during weekends.
Brig. Gen. Matta said they have also tapped the help of their ‘force multipliers’ in watching the area.
The deadly crash was the 13th incident along the Marilaque Highway recorded by the Rizal PHPT from January 1 to 28 alone.
From January 1 to December 31, 2024, the PNP-HPG recorded a total of 158 incidents in the same highway, 110 of them in the Palo-Alto and Mount Masungi areas.
Rizal Police Provincial Office director, Colonel Felipe B. Maraggun also called on a ‘whole-of-nation’ approach to erase the ‘highway of death’ moniker given to Marilaque highway.
The highway which starts at the boundary of Marikina-Antipolo City and goes all the way up to the Sierra Madre ranges of Rizal and Laguna down to the fishing villages of Infanta, Quezon, Marilaque Highway has its own fabled story of tragic road accidents and other mishaps.
Viral videos of motorcycle mishaps that have killed or maimed prominent people, couples and people from all walks of life have given the Marilaque Highway a deadly tag.
In many viral videos, the motorcycle riders were seen overshooting the opposite lane before slamming into approaching motor vehicles including heavy trucks, SUVs and motorbikes.
Dashcam videos showed drivers and their passengers flying into the air and slamming into the ground head first after the accidents while negotiating the highway’s dangerous curves.
In some cases, the victims were killed on the spot while the rest died while undergoing treatment in nearby hospitals.
Last October 27, a millionaire and Club 200 founder Red Romero was killed in an accident on Marilaque highway in Tanay, Rizal.
Brig. Gen. Matta said he has dispatched other officers from the Laguna, Cavite and Quezon Provincial Highway Patrol Teams to help guard the highway. The additional policemen will reinforce the Rizal HPT which has only 17 personnel.
Rizal Police Provincial Office director Colonel Felipe B. Maraggun said they really need all the assistance they can get from their partner-government agencies in erasing the ‘highway of death’ moniker given to the 117.5-kilometer-long Marilaque highway.
Maraggun said they have taken note that Marilaque Highway has been the scene of countless accidents, many of them fatal, involving motorcycles.
The Rizal police director called on the public, especially motorists, to follow traffic rules when traversing the highway to ensure everyone’s safety.
He also maintained that strict compliance to traffic laws will ensure the protection of not only drivers and riders but most particularly, the rest of the general public.
