DPWH CHIEF SAYS: Public to feel ‘full effect’ of ‘Build, Build, Build’ by 2020

The public will start feeling the “full effect” of President Rodrigo Duterte’s infrastructure program by next year, one of his economic managers said Tuesday, defending the pace of the building.

The Department of Public Works and Highways has disbursed P500 billion for projects so far this year, matching the amount spent in the entire 2018. Last year’s building list included 9,000 roads, 2,700 bridges, 4,000 flood-control structures and 120,000 school buildings, said Secretary Mark Villar.

“There are so many projects coming on line next year that I think people will really start feeling the full effect of the work that this government has put in for the 2 or 3 years,” he said.

“The little inconveniences that we have now, they’ll pay off in the near future. We’re going to see significant improvement,” he said.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon criticized the government’s infrastructure program as a “dismal failure” since only 9 out of 75 Build, Build, Build flagship projects have started construction.

“What’s important is what we have accomplished. We really picked the projects that we felt showed to have a high level of benefit to the people. We don’t want white elephants,” Villar said.

The government is working to ease congestion in the capital’s main highway, EDSA, by bringing it back to its original capacity of 250,000 vehicles a day, he said. The DPWH is building two alternatives or “bypass” roads: the EDSA-Skyway extension and harbor link, he said.