IF BUILD, Build, Build will be fully implemented, then Duterte’s administration will be the most accomplished and best performing government in our history, speaking of infrastructures. It will surpass even that of Ferdinand Marcos’ 20-year governance.
Marcos’ Governance: Marcos, the 10th Philippine President (Dec. 30, 1965 to Feb. 25, 1986), is well-remembered of his famous inaugural speech promising the Filipino people that “this nation can be great again.”
In his time, he built the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Philippine International Convention Center, Tanghalang Francisco Balagtas Folk Arts Theater, National Arts Center, Nayong Pilipino, and the People’s Park in the Sky.
Those projects were designed to showcase and propagate the Filipino arts, culture, and heritage. As a result, our talents and fineries were recognized worldwide, attracted more tourists, and we earned more dollars.
For health, Marcos also established the Philippine Heart Center, National Kidney and Transplant Institute, and the Lung Center of the Philippines.
And, the famous infrastructures built in his time were the San Juanico Bridge that stretched from Leyte to Samar, and the burgeoned of typhoon-proof Marcos type classrooms all over the country.
It is just a sad story that many failed to comprehend that those projects drove us to economic growth and health improvement. What this generation knows is that once upon a time there was a merciless criminal and dictator named Marcos.
Duterte’s Governance: Duterte, the 16th Philippine President (July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2022), promised to reduce poverty of at least 6% at the end of his term by booting out corruption, saying “I assure you, this will be a clean government.”
Duterte launched The 911 National Emergency Hotline; 8888 National Complaint Hotline, War on Drugs, and his flagship Build. Build, Build program.
On June 27, 2017, the NEDA Infracom approved 75 from the thousands proposed projects as priority in this administration. I have the list of these high impact projects, but my very limited space cannot warrant naming it all. It has six Long Bridges to connect the entire country, Railways, BRTs and Expressways, Roads and Bridges, Airports, Seaports and Terminals, Energy Facilities, Water Resource Projects and Irrigation Systems, Flood Control Facilities, Government Centers and Housing.
To Build, Build, Build all of these projects under a “clean government” as promised, Duterte’s administration will be spending P9-trillion, partly loan.
Our hope is to complete some, if not all in the list of his ought-to-be legacy before he steps down in 2022. Otherwise, the spending bonanza of borrowed money will sharply slump our economy, and the grappling to poverty with trillion debts will remain a nightmare even to the unborn Filipinos.
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