Traditionally, roads are classified based on administrative obligation (i.e., national, provincial, city, or barangay road) or on function (i.e., arterial, collector, or local). However, there is an even more basic classification of roads other than administrative or functional, based on the road's location. Urban roads are found in so-called urbanized areas or areas significantly built up or developed, such as those found in many cities and municipalities. Rural roads are those found in less developed areas such as agricultural lands, mountains, and other areas (OECD, 1999). In terms of Philippine administrative classification, rural roads may be classified as national, provincial, city, municipal or barangay and functionally they can be arterial, feeder, or local. Roads, in general, play a critical role in economic and community development by linking production and consumption areas as well as facilitate access to services. It has been established that steady economic growth can be achieved through an efficient transport system and among the identified critical drivers for economic growth are roads (Regidor, 2013). However, roads serve multiple functions in rural communities, particularly when these are the only access to education, health services, markets, employment, and other social services. It had been observed that in some rural areas that the authors visited, road carriageways are also used as pedestrian paths for school children and women who do not know how to drive or have no private means of transportation. This emphasizes the role of rural roads in providing equal opportunities to all stakeholders. Rural roads are also considered lifelines, protecting communities by facilitating emergency response operations, including evacuations in times of natural calamities. Thus, these roads need to be resilient in the midst of natural disasters such as typhoons and earthquakes in order for the very same communities that use them to be able to recover quickly from such calamities. This paper attempts to document the functions of rural roads in the Philippines, based on secondary data sources. It then proceeds to present challenges in developing rural roads in the Philippines and discuss innovative modalities in developing and maintaining rural roads.