The Pan-Philippine Highway, sometimes known as the Maharlika Highway, is a 2,500-kilometer (1,550-mile) network of sealed roads, expressways, interchanges, bridges, and ferry services that links the main islands of the Philippine archipelago: Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao. The transport development program was proposed in 1965 and was supported by loans and grants from foreign-aid institutions, including the World Bank. It was a major achievement in road construction, and government planners believed that the Pan-Philippine Highway, in conjunction with other road construction, would stimulate agricultural production by reducing transportation costs, encourage social and economic development outside the major urban centers, and expand industrial production for domestic and foreign markets. Rebuilt and improved in 1997 with assistance from the Japanese government, the highway was dubbed the Philippine-Japan Friend-ship Highway. A campaign to encourage domestic tourism launched in 1998 by the Department of Tourism saw twenty-six sections of the highway in Luzon and seven areas in the Visayas, Mindanao, and the Bicol region designated as Scenic Highways with developed amenities for travelers and tourists.
Further Reading
Francisco, Stella Amor J., and Jayant K. Routray. (1992) RoadTransport and Rural Development: A Case Study in the Philippines. Bangkok, Thailand: Asian Institute of Technology.
"The Proposed Pan-Philippine Highway." (1965) The Journal of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines 41, 11 (November): 564–565.
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