Duterte wants Use, Use, Use, not just Build, Build, Build
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Fri, 22 Nov 2019 13:09:49 +0000
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Friday ordered concerned agencies to accelerate the implementation of the government’s massive infrastructure program.
“Sabi ko sa kanila hindi ko kailangan ‘yung ‘Build, Build, Build.’ Do not give me that kind of s***. I want build, use, build, use, build, use,” Duterte said in his speech during the inauguration of a baseload coal-fired power plant in Saranggani on Friday.
Duterte made the directive as he acknowledged the efforts of power generation companies “in providing much needed support to the government’s Build, Build, Build program.”
“I wish to acknowledge the important contribution of power generation companies to the country’s development, particularly here in Mindanao,” the President said.
“Through their consistent efforts to expand power coverage nationwide, they are providing much needed support to the government’s Build, Build, Build… and the electrification programs that help significantly in propelling the Philippine economy forward,” he added.
Duterte’s statement came after several agencies, including the Department of Transportation (DOTr), were hit by state auditors and senators for failing to spend a significant part of their budgets this year, which meant many major projects were not implemented or finished.
Senators are moving to have the DOTr’s proposed P147-billion budget for 2020 slashed by at least P60 billion because of its poor dis bursement record.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon had said that Duterte’s “Build, Build, Build” program was a “dismal failure,” citing that only nine of the 75 flagship projects have started construction.
“We have only two years and a half years left of this administration, I don’t think any substantial progress in so far as the program is concerned will be achieved as I would repeat the execution is simply dismal,” the senator told reporters.
Vince Dizon, Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) chief, had said that the government has revised its list of infrastructure flagship projects as it “shelved” at least 20 original big-ticket projects.
“There were some projects [on] that list that after the feasibility studies, they were found out to be not yet feasible,” Dizon said.
The BCDA chief also admitted they were “not contented” with the progress of the flagship infrastructure projects.
Under the revised list, 35 projects are ongoing, 32 will commence construction in six to eight months, 21 are in advanced stages of approval and 12 in the advanced stages of feasibility study, according to Dizon.
The new list is categorized into five: Transport and Mobility, Power, Water, Information and Communications Technology, and Urban Development and Renewal. CATHERINE S. VALENTE