One of the major accomplishments of the Duterte administration is the passage of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) which will create the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), home to the Muslim minority in the predominantly Roman Catholic country. It is expected to stop the bloodshed in the war-prone island of Mindanao.

However, its passage also resulted to confusions among some sectors if the national government will continue the ongoing and proposed infrastructure projects in the BARMM comprised of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi or put on hold. (A separate referendum will be held in 39 barangays in North Cotabato, six municipalities in Lanao del Norte and the cities of Cotabato in Maguindanao and Isabela in Basilan to determine if they want to be included in the Bangsamoro territory).

Fortunately, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia clarified there would be minimal changes in the funding of some projects, with majority to push through as planned under the Public Investment Program (PIP) 2017-2022.

“Those that are currently ongoing, especially those funded by loans, most likely we will just allow them to continue as they are now. In fact, many of the ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) projects carried out by the Department of Public Works (DPWH) have a MoA (memorandum of agreement) between national public works and local public works,” said Socioeconomic Planning Undersecretary Rolando G. Tungpalan.

Pernia emphasized NEDA’s (National Economic and Development Agency) core message that there will be “No region, province, city or municipality left behind, such that no single Filipino is forsaken.” The department has proven this in its latest report on the distribution of funds across all regions.

Under the PIP 2017-2022, which contains the government’s priority programs and projects, the investment requirement of each region depends on their impact in proportion to population.

In the 2017 data on Gross Regional Domestic Product (GDRP), all regions showed positive economic growth, with nine expanding higher than the National Capital Region’s 6.1 percent growth. The Cordillera Administrative Region topped the list with a 12.1 percent growth followed by Davao Region with 10.9 percent and Central Luzon advancing 9.3 percent.

Meanwhile, based on the PIP and GDRP level in each region, the national average PIP to GDRP ratio is recorded at 6.28 percent, with the ARMM, Bicol and Caraga regions getting the highest infrastructure investments at 17.51, 14.59 and 12.48 percent GDRP ratio respectively.

With ARMM getting a third of 4,490 projects under PIP 2017-2022, Pernia stressed infrastructure investments are not concentrated on regions that contribute largely to the nation’s economy.

“The end-goal of the government’s massive infrastructure program is to address inequalities. The country needs quality infrastructure that will make regions better connected and help improve their efficiency and productivity,” he added.

Further, NEDA is confident the government’s infrastructure initiatives would positively contribute to the regional growth and the areas outside the NCR will largely benefit from the “Build, Build, Build” program.

According to the NEDA chief, critics of President Rodrigo Duterte should not focus their eyes only on the pace of the flagship projects under the Build, Build, Build program, but must also look at the bigger picture of the whole program which is scattered across the country in various stages of developments.

“Let’s not look at the 75 flagship projects only, let’s look at the projects in the regions with 11,979 projects,” Socioeconomic planning Undersecretary for Regional Development Adoracion Navarro said.

Pernia added the Duterte government had implemented 43 of the 75 flagship projects in a span of two years, describing the accomplishment as a “good batting average,” compared to the previous administration where many projects failed to break grounds.

He said that this time, the government is trying to minimize delays and fast-track completion.

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