Renaissance within 2 years

The DPWH has already spent P500 billion for the government’s massive program.

Count two years and the lives of most Filipinos particularly in Metro Manila will have a “significant change” for the better, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Mark Villar said yesterday.

Villar, who is one of the key managers of President Rodrigo Duterte’s infrastructure build-up, said the period he stated would be when Filipinos will start to enjoy the impact of the Duterte administration’s “Build, Build, Build” program.

He said that more quality and positive development in the country’s infrastructure sector will be delivered within the next two years as he revealed the DPWH has already spent P500 billion for the government’s massive program.

“I know what we have and I know what we’ll accomplish in the next two years. People’s lives will significantly change for the better. Traffic will change for the better,” Villar said in a broadcast interview.

During the past three years of the Duterte administration, Villar said DPWH was able to disburse around P500 billion, which is higher compared to other previous administrations.

“To date, we’ve disbursed P500 billion, and we have two more months to go,” he said.

“The nature of capital outlay is different. The fact is, we’ve disbursed more in this administration than in any other,” Villar added.

The said amount is about 91 percent of the 2019 DPWH budget of P544 billion.

Under the previous administration of President Benigno Aquino III, for instance, some P1 trillion in underspending was estimated that resulted in economic potentials of the country being held back.

Utilization of the DPWH 2019 budget covers projects and programs in line with planning and construction of infrastructure such as national roads and bridges, flood control, water resources projects and other public works.

“We’ve built more than 9,000 kilometers of roads, more than 2,000 bridges, more than 4,000 flood control structures. We’ve built about 120,000 school buildings,” Villar explained.

“If you look at all the available metrics, you’ll see that the amount of the projects that have been and will be completed are of a scale we’ve never seen before,” he added.

Meanwhile, Villar stressed that special powers for the President could provide the agency an upper hand in implementing its programs and projects more efficiently.

However, he said “it is not something that we should rely on.”

Villar said that it is up to Congress to decide on the matter. Earlier, Albay Rep. Joey Salceda pushed for emergency powers for Mr. Duterte in the implementation of “Build, Build, Build” program.

“I leave it up to the wisdom of Congress if they want to give us, but we won’t be relying on that, it’s not within our assumptions we’ll be given special powers,” he said.

Even without being granted with special powers, Villar said DPWH can implement the projects under the “Build, Build, Build” banner.