Infra blitz to endure

In his entire six years in power, President Benigno Aquino underspent the budget by nearly P1 trillion.

“Build, Build, Build” was a necessary program to reverse years of neglect as a result of gross underspending of the budget that made the country a laggard on infrastructure in the region, Presidential Adviser for Flagship Programs Vince Dizon said. YUMMIE DINGDING @tribunephl_yumi

The “Build, Build, Build” program was initiated to address decades of neglect and inaction by previous administrations, which was highlighted by the poor use of the budget.

Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) president Vince Dizon, who is also the Presidential Adviser for Flagship Programs, stressed in a forum that the “Build, Build, Build” program was not meant to extol the Duterte administration.

In his entire six years in power, President Benigno Aquino III underspent the budget by nearly P1 trillion, resulting in the economy failing to reach its potential due mainly to the absence of adequate infrastructure.

“‘Build, Build, Build’ is never meant to be just a Duterte program. It is meant to be Republic of the Philippines program, which we hope future governments will continue for the future of our country,” Dizon said during a forum with the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) on Thursday afternoon.

Dizon, at the same time, said not all of the projects under the massive infrastructure program are scheduled to be completed within the term of President Rodrigo Duterte.

However, he said the Duterte administration was determined to finish a substantial number of the projects to establish the momentum.

“We want to build momentum because all of these projects will not be completed in five to six years… (There are) projects that will require several years and multiple administrations,” Dizon said.

“But we want to complete and start or substantially complete as many as we can… Momentum will lead to continuity,” he added.

The BCDA chief said while the Duterte administration had achieved much in terms of infrastructure projects, there is still room for improvement.

“We are getting there, but we can still do more,” he pointed out.

Dizon also noted the impact of government infrastructure spending to economic growth. He cited the “huge, consistent and sustained growth in the construction sector.”

“The number speaks for itself — more than double the average of the past four administrations. We don’t want to stop there,” he noted.

In a letter to House Committee on Ways and Means chairman Albay Rep. Joey Salceda on Friday, Dizon vowed to work closely with the House of Representatives in the implementation of the Infrastructure Flagship Projects (IFP) under the “Build, Build, Build” program.

He said agencies involved in the administration’s infrastructure program support the calls to boost infrastructure spending and speed up the implementation of flagship projects worth about P4.2 trillion.

He said all projects under “Build, Build, Build” have an estimated value of P8 trillion.

“We are one with you in building not only to address our country’s antiquated infrastructure due to decades of neglect and inaction, but more importantly in building for the future,” Dizon stated.

The BCDA chief underscored that the original emergency powers sought by the President from Congress to help decongest roads in the country would have addressed the problem of the slow implementation of government projects, but the Senate failed to act on his request.

“It is really needed. It is not blanket emergency powers that the President asked for. It is meant to address bottlenecks. We can see bottlenecks. Congressman (Joey) Salceda wants to file a bill so, Congress can do what it wants to be able to help. I’m sure the government is open to that. But right now, we have no choice and we can’t stop from building even if we do not get such powers,” Dizon said.

He lamented that Congress did not act on the requested special powers which was asked by the President even at the start of his administration.

“If you are going through the normal course, it is very difficult. The emergency powers that the President asked for at the onset. From his first SONA (State of the Nation Address), he asked for it.

It was meant to address that. Unfortunately, Congress did not act on it. So, the President, in his exasperation, said ‘I don’t want it anymore because you won’t grant that,’” he pointed out.

Dizon said government has faced the issue of Right-of-Way as the biggest block in rolling out the infrastructure plan. He cited the Skyway as an example, noting that it was approved during the time of former President Fidel Ramos, but it took 10 years before it was expanded from Buendia Avenue.

He defended anew the revision on the original list of BBB’s big-ticket projects, saying they recalibrated their focus to center on more feasible projects.

“The problem, when you are talking about thousands of infrastructure projects, is focus. When your efforts, money, is spread out, we cannot finish anything. So, we will end up with very few… We really have to focus, and that is what the reassessment is all about,” Dizon explained.

He belied claims that the Duterte administration only revised to include realistic projects on the list to tally more achievements at the end of the term.

“Absolutely false. I can imagine some critics would say that, but it is absolutely not true. We do not play politics with what people desperately need,” he said.