Bring a lot
of patience on your next road trip.
The
government has appealed to the public to brace for inconveniences amid the
planned 24/7 construction of roads and other major infrastructure projects
aimed at improving the country’s transportation system.
Socio-economic
planning secretary Ernesto Pernia disclosed that the Philippines is poised to
become a “world-class country” with a modern infrastructure network but said
the public must share in the burden of sacrifices.
“Ang change
na mangyayari muna would be some inconvenience, some passion, but then it’s
usually passion before resurrection,” the National Economic and Development
Authority (NEDA) director general said in a Palace press briefing.
“Before the
country can really rise up and be a world-class country, there’ll be some
inconvenience because you know when there’s construction going on, road
widening project for example or railway project, talagang ano maaabala ‘yung
mga tao na mag-commute,” Pernia added. (The commuters will be greatly
affected.)
The
government is targeting to complete several major infrastructure projects,
including the Manila-Clark railway, Santa Monica-Lawton-BGC Link Bridge, and
Metro Manila Bus Rapid Train System, in the next three to five years.
The
multi-billion peso projects not only aim at decongesting Metro Manila but also
provide safe fast and convenient transportation of people and goods across the
country.
Pernia has
asked the assistance of the media in disseminating the appeal for collective
sacrifice as the construction of mega projects will roll out soon. “Talagang
meron, kailangang kaunting sacrifice and dapat mapaintindi ninyo sa pagpahayag
ninyo sa media na ganon,” he said. (There is a need for some sacrifice and we
ask you to help us make the public understand why this needs to be done.)
Public Works
and Highways Secretary Mark Villar said the infrastructure projects will have
24/7 construction operations to hasten their completion within the President’s
term.
“The Duterte
administration will be a Golden Age for Infrastructure,” Villar said in the
same press conference at the Palace. “The President ordered us to work 24/7 and
that’s exactly what we’re going to do,” he added.
He said the
country has been lagging behind Asian neighbors in terms of infrastructure
development since there was “less of a focus” during the past administrations.
“The
infrastructure deficit is so huge that we really have to double time, triple
time to even approach or be at par with the infrastructure level of our
neighbors in Asia,” he said.
Villar said
the government is set to spend 5.4 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP)
in infrastructure, the highest in the last 47 years and unprecedented in past
administrations.
“At our
highest, a maximum of 3.2 percent was pegged for infrastructure spending. This
administration would like to raise the bar and address the deficit. It is the
only way we could solve both traffic and flooding,” Villar said.
Citing a
study conducted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Villar said that a
sustained increase in public infrastructure spending to five percent of GDP
would add a total of five to six percent to GDP after 15 years.
“Development
has always been faster than our road and transportation networks. We’d like to
catch up – and hopefully preempt it in the next six years,” he said.
According to
the DPWH, the 2015 IMF report found that the Philippines consistently had lower
public investment than other members of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN), averaging only 2.5 percent in 2000 to 2014.
The same
study indicated that public capital stock is also one of the lowest among ASEAN
countries which is at about 35 percent of GDP in 2013. Regional Average is
pegged at 72 percent of GDP.
“China and
India have been spending at least eight percent of their GDP in infrastructure.
We’d like to catch up. Underspending would not be a problem of this
administration,” Villar noted.
PRIORITY PROJECTS
The five
priority infrastructure projects of the Duterte administration include the Sta.
Monica – Lawton – BGC Link Road Project, a 1.15-kilometer bridge, roadway and
viaduct structure, which will connect Lawton Avenue in Makati City to Sta.
Monica, Fairlane, and Brixton in Pasig City and Bonifacio Global City;
The UP –
Miriam – Ateneo Viaduct, a 1,820-meter four-lane permanent viaduct, which will
reduce travel time on Katipunan Avenue and CP Garcia by 80 percent;
The
NLEX-SLEX Connector Project, an eight-kilometer four-lane expressway from C3
Road in Caloocan City to the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) in
Sta. Mesa, Manila, which is expected to reduce travel time between SLEX-NLEX
from two hours to 30 minutes;
The
Iloilo-Guimaras-Negros-Cebu Link Bridge, an interisland bridge project which
will link the Visayan Islands of Panay, Guimaras, Negros and Cebu; and
The Davao
City Bypass Construction project, a 44.6-kilometer tunnel and roadway
structure, which would reduce travel time from Digos in Davao del Sur to Panabo
in Davao del Norte by 55 minutes.
The post Major Projects Go Full Blast appeared first on Manila Bulletin.
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