While contradicting statements claiming that the Duterte administration’s “Build Build Build” program is a failure, Senator Sonny Angara however said there is a need to address the delays of its implementation.
“It is definitely not a failure. With so many projects, with so many having gone to infrastructure; if we are to compare the yearly expenses for infrastructure, there were additional. So for me, it was not a dismal failure,” Angara said.
He said that of the original 75 projects, ”twenty-eight were removed from the list and replaced with more doable and fundable projects.”
“Yung maipopondo at maitutuloy talaga dito sa huling tatlong taon ng administrasyon.”
“So, I think, they removed the Mindanao to Visayas bridge because it’s too expensive. Perhaps, it took one year already for the study,” said Angara.
He said that bigger projects and longer bridges were removed from the list and replaced with almost completed projects, more realistic projects.
The current administration, he said, has managed to step up its spending on infrastructure, which he said is a positive development.
Senate Minority Leader Frankln Drilon earlier criticized the BBB program and branded it a “dismal failure” after he pointed that out of the 75 flagship projects listed on the website of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), only nine were implemented.
Both Public Works Secretary Mark Villar and Presidential Adviser on Flagship Projects and Programs Vince Dizon have clarified that the list was not updated and was just a small part of a bigger list of projects under the BBB.
The administration has since amended its list of flagship projects, which now contains a total of 100 items.
Dizon explained that the list was updated to remove those that would no longer be feasible during the last years of the administration and to include only the ones that will actually be started between now and the early part of 2022.
A report submitted by Dizon indicated that 35 are already ongoing, 32 will start construction in six to eight months, 21 are already in the advanced stages of approval, and 12 are in the advanced stages of feasibility studies.
Angara, who chairs the Committee on Finance that is currently going over the proposed P4.1 trillion national budget for 2020, aired his optimism that the “reconfiguration” of the list of flagship projects would mean all of the projects will either commence or be completed before the end of the Duterte administration.
“I see this as a positive development because only those projects that will actually be started under the current administration were included in the list. Many of these projects will not be completed in 2022, but what is important is that work on these will start already and will be continued by the next administration,” Angara said.
“Ang importante hindi nasasayang ang pera. Nagagamit ito para sa kapakanan ng kababayan natin,” he added.
Angara said there could be a variety of reasons for the delays and that pinpointing these would require a closer scrutiny of the processes involved.
From the initial proposal submitted either by the agency, a foreign-funding source or a local proponent, Angara said these would have to go through a feasibility study and evaluation by the different bodies within the NEDA.
“Oftentimes, the problem is the right of way. Sometimes, some agencies have processes to be expedited and those should be the ones to be scrutinized by Congress,” Angara said.
Primarily, he said it is the responsibility of each agency of government to ensure there are no delays in their respective projects.
When the plenary deliberations on the 2020 national budget resumes today (November 18), Angara said the NEDA and Bases Conversion Development Authority, which is headed by Dizon, will be called back to answer questions regarding the status of these projects.
Angara said he expects the interpellations on the budget to be completed next week so that by November 25, the Senate could already go into the period of amendments and then approve the measure on second and third reading.