AN OFFICIAL of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) recognized the support of the Japanese government to the Build Build Build infrastructure program of the Duterte administration.

“This is one of the legacies that President Duterte will be leaving behind, the beginnings of the New Clark City and we have the Japanese government to thank a lot because they really have been supportive from the very beginning,” BCDA president Vivencio Dizon told reporters at the conclusion of the 8th High Level Meeting of the Philippines-Japan Joint Committee on Infrastructure Development and Economic Cooperation held in Clark.

“Based on the discussions in the meeting, there will be more support coming to us. In fact, there’s a joint venture between the BCDA and Japan Overseas International Network for transport and urban development,” he added.

Talking about Clark which is one of the centerpiece of the administration’s infrastructure program, Dizon mentioned that it was turned over to the Philippine government in 1991 and it has taken more than three decades for the area to really develop.

“I think we usually forget that in Luzon where close of 60 percent of Filipinos reside there is only one metropolis, that is Metro Manila,” he stressed.

“Past governments have been unable to develop regions and areas outside of Metro Manila as new centers of growth and that is why we included the development of Clark and Subic because their strategic nature becomes really the centerpiece not just of the Build Build Build but also future developments later on,” he stated.

“With these, we really need a new metropolis to not just address the congestion of Metro Manila but also to spread growth outside,” Dizon furthered. (PIA Central Luzon)