Pan-Philippine Highway


The Pan-Philippine Highway, also known as the Maharlika Highway is a network of roads, expressways, bridges, and ferry services that connect the islands of Luzon, Samar, Leyte, and Mindanao in the Philippines, serving as the country's principal transport backbone. It is the longest highway in the Philippines that forms the country's north–south backbone component of the National Route 1 of the Philippine highway network. The entire highway is designated as Asian Highway 26 of the Asian Highway Network.
The northern terminus of the highway is in Laoag and the southern terminus is in Zamboanga City.

Development

The highway was proposed in 1965, and built under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos. Government planners believed that the motorway and other connected roads would stimulate agricultural production by reducing transport costs, encourage social and economic development outside existing major urban centres such as Manila, and expand industrial production for domestic and overseas markets. Construction was supported by loans and grants from foreign aid institutions, including the World Bank.
The highway was rehabilitated and improved in 1997, during the administration of President Fidel Ramos, with assistance from the Japanese government, and dubbed the "Philippine-Japan Friendship Highway". In 1998, the Department of Tourism designated 35 sections of the highway as "Scenic Highways", with developed amenities for travelers and tourists.
In March 2018, Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar inaugurated the arterial road that will link the North Luzon Expressway with the Maharlika Highway that traverses the central part of Luzon.

Asian Highway Network

The Pan-Philippine Highway is designated as AH26 in the Asian Highway Network, a cooperative project which seeks to improve highway systems and standards across the continent. It is currently the only highway in the system that is isolated from every other highway; island-based sections of the Asian Highway Network in Japan, Sri Lanka and Indonesia are all linked to the mainland sections by ferries to South Korea, India, and Singapore, respectively.

Associated Routes

AH26 runs along the following thoroughfares:
Alternatively, AH26 runs along the following thoroughfares:
;Luzon
;Visayas
;Mindanao
;Ilocos Norte
;Cagayan
;Isabela
;Nueva Vizcaya
;Nueva Ecija
;Bulacan
in Makati
;Metro Manila
;Cavite
;Laguna
;Batangas
;Laguna
;Quezon
;Camarines Norte
;Camarines Sur
;Albay
;Sorsogon
;Northern Samar
;Samar
;Samar–Leyte boundary
carries the Pan-Philippine Highway between Samar and Leyte
;Leyte
;Southern Leyte
;Surigao del Norte
;Agusan del Norte
;Agusan del Sur
;Davao de Oro
;Davao del Norte
;Davao Del Sur
;South Cotabato
;Sultan Kudarat
;Maguindanao
;Lanao del Sur
;Zamboanga del Sur
;Zamboanga Sibugay
;Zamboanga City
;Metro Manila – part of and
;Visayas – part of
;Mindanao – part of