The Aspiras–Palispis Highway (formerly known and still referred to as Marcos Highway or Agoo–Baguio Road) is a Philippine major

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

in northern

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

that runs from the city of

Baguio Baguio ( , ), officially the City of Baguio ( ilo, Siudad ti Baguio; fil, Lungsod ng Baguio), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines", ...

in the province of

Benguet Benguet (), officially the Province of Benguet ('';'' ; pag, Luyag/Probinsia na Benguet; ilo, Probinsia ti Benguet; ), is a landlocked province of the Philippines located in the southern tip of the Cordillera Administrative Region in the islan ...

to the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Agoo Agoo, officially the Municipality of Agoo ( ilo, Ili ti Agoo; pag, Baley na Agoo; fil, Bayan ng Agoo), is a 1st class municipality in the province of La Union, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 66,028 people. Ago ...

in the province of

La Union La Union (), officially the Province of La Union ( ilo, Probinsia ti La Union; Kankanaey'': Probinsyan di La Union;'' Ibaloi'': Probinsya ne La Union;'' pag, Luyag/Probinsia na La Union; Tagalog'': Lalawigan ng La Union),'' is a province in th ...

. The highway traverses the municipality of

Tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...

and the city of

, and the municipalities of Pugo, Tubao, and

. It is one of the four main roads used by motorists and travelers to access Baguio from the northwestern lowlands of Luzon. The highway's several rehabilitation and development efforts led to the road's categorization as an "

all-weather road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

", and is the preferred highway by motorists to use over the older

Kennon Road Kennon Road, also known as Rosario–Baguio Road, is a two lane roadway in Benguet province in the Philippines connecting the mountain city of Baguio in Benguet to the lowland town of Rosario in La Union province. The project begun in 1903 an ...

. The entire highway is designated as National Route 208 (N208) of the

Philippine highway network The Philippine highway network is a network of national roads owned and maintained by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and organized into three classifications according to their function or purpose: national primary, seconda ...

History

Marcos Highway was renamed into Aspiras–Palispis Highway on October 31, 2000, with the issuance of

Republic Act This article contains a partial list of Philippine laws. Sources of Philippine laws ;Notes : *Customs may be considered as supplementary source of law, however, customs which are contrary to law, public order or public policy shall not be ...

8971. The highway section covering the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

was designated as the Ben Palispis Highway in honor of former Benguet Governor Ben Palispis. The La Union section of Marcos Highway was named Jose D. Aspiras Highway after former La Union assemblyman and Tourism Minister

Jose Aspiras Jose D. Aspiras (August 18, 1924 – November 14, 1999) was a Filipino politician. He was a member of former President Ferdinand Marcos's cabinet, and was considered one of the most loyal political lieutenants from Marcos' “northern bloc” of ...

. However, the former name is considered by people to be more familiar and is still preferred by most. The Palina Bridge, situated along the Benguet–La Union boundary, serves as the boundary between the two highways.

Intersections

Notable landmarks

The long ''Badiwan

Viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...

'', constructed in 2001, with help from the

Japan International Cooperation Agency The is a governmental agency that delivers the bulk of Official Development Assistance (ODA) for the government of Japan. It is chartered with assisting economic and social growth in developing countries, and the promotion of international co ...

(JICA), serves as a major bridge along Badiwan, Barangay Poblacion in Tuba, Benguet. Several meters from it is a concrete rock shed to protect motorists from

landslides Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of environments, ...

. The blasted remains of the

bust of Ferdinand Marcos The bust of Ferdinand Marcos along the Aspiras–Palispis Highway in Tuba, Benguet, Philippines, was a concrete monument of former Philippine President, dictator and kleptocrat Ferdinand Marcos. The monument became a subject of controversy as ...

, a giant concrete head sculpture of the former president, can be seen along the highway at Barangay Palina, in Pugo, La Union.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aspiras-Palispis Highway Roads in Benguet Roads in La Union