ASIDE from the war on drugs which President Duterte has tacitly admitted to be a failure, the administration’s “Build, Build, Build” program is also a dismal failure, according to Senate minority leader Franklin Drilon.
The opposition senator, during a Senate hearing, said that only nine out of the 75 flagship projects have begun construction but Malacañang says the administration has done much more, including finishing 9,845 kilometers of roads.
Admittedly, the government’s ambitious “Build, Build, Build” (BBB) centerpiece economic program is far short of its targets. A number of the promised 75 infrastructure projects among them, the P57.6 billion Luzon-Samar Link Bridge, the P56.6 billion Cebu-Bohol Link Bridge and the P47.4 billion Leyte-Surigao Link Bridge that were supposed to hasten inter-island travel have now been dropped and belatedly declared as no longer feasible.
However, I have to give credit to the Duterte administration for its on-going construction of the Cebu City-Cordova Bridge, which will help hasten economic development in the area.
The Duterte government has boasted about its accomplishment of 10 infrastructure projects. Here is the list of the 10 infrastructure projects, being claimed by the Duterte administration as its achievement:
Gov. Miranda Bridge (Davao del Norte)
Laguna Lake Highway
Tarlac–Pangasinan–La Union Express (TPLEx)
Bohol–Panglao International Airport
Communications Navigation System Air Traffic Management
New Clark City (originally Clark Green City)
NLEX Harbor Link
Pigalo Bridge in Isabela Province
Cagayan de Oro Passenger Terminal
Cavite Gateway Terminal
However, the Duterte government cannot claim credit for the accomplishment of the first six above-mentioned projects because five of them were initiated or finished during the incumbency of former President Benigno Simeon Aquino III, and one (Communications Navigation System) was initiated and approved by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
To be precise, Gov. Miranda Bridge (Davao del Norte} was initiated and finished in 2015; Laguna Lake Highway, in 2014; Tarlac-Pangasinan La Union Express (TPLEx), in 2012; Bohol-Panglao International Airport in 2015, and the New Clark City (originally Clark Green City), in 2016.
It is, therefore, clear that of the ten enumerated infrastructure projects, only four had been initiated by the Duterte government, namely: NLEX Harbor Link; Pigalo Bridge in Isabela Province, Cagayan de Oro Passenger Terminal, and the Cavite Gateway Terminal.
The lofty promise of a “Golden Age of Infrastructure” has gone awry. Sen. Drilon is indeed correct in saying that the regime’s “Build, Build, Build” program is a dismal failure.