There is more to do in terms of infrastructure in our country. My engineer friend Ric M. Balatbat spent ten days in different cities in China and in the way traveler Marco Polo was amazed, he too was mesmerized on what he discovered. China has grown by leaps and bounds in this last decade. Their highways and railway systems are the envy of many Asian countries. Even Japan can’t even come close on the engineering marvels undertaken by the Chinese government under Xi Jin Ping.
What about in our country, the Philippines which was the number one in growth in Southeast Asia and number two among Asian countries in the early sixties? Gusto mong maiyak dahil na pag-iiwanan na tayo dahil sa kapalpakan ng mga namumuno. Government policies have their consequences. I am trying to find a reason why past leaders of our country failed in building a railway and road systems for mobility of people and goods. Vision and looking towards the future were detained. Look how poor we are compared to our Asian neighbors.
Poverty seemingly is encumbered to millions of families and apparently only the politicians have the ‘divine’ rights to affluence. Our country is in need of more infrastructures now, more than ever because of the burgeoning population. There were only 30 something million in the sixties and balooned to 117 Million Filipinos today and counting.Our population is much bigger than many countries in Europe. What happened to Population Commission?
Former President Duterte launched his ‘Build, Build, Build’ program and tasked Arthur Tugade and Mark Villar whom you can describe both as failures. How in the world giving the secretary of Department of Transportation a job and cannot even finish in 6 years one phase of the project? To be specific, the portion from Manila to Malolos, Bulacan? Look those roads all over the country how poorly they are built. It was because of what they call SOPs. (Flood control projects, that’s another story. Nakasuka. Majority of congresspersons and senators benefited). By the way, give or take five years, for sure there will be potholes. Now President Bongbong Marcos is building subways in Metro Manila with Chinese money and engineering. God bless these projects. It is most welcome, but a word of caution. Don’t over borrow. The government indebtness is several trillion pesos already, P13 Trillion plus. Mor th P1 trillion was pocketed by government officials with sticky fingers. (Magkano kaya ang utang ng bawa’t isang Pilipino?) It is called debt trap by economists. The yellow light is blinking.
