The Department of Transportation said over the weekend it is accelerating the completion of various transportation projects to help the government realize its goal of ushering in the “golden age of infrastructure.”
Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said he expected the development of more projects to catch up until the end of the term of President Rodrigo Duterte.
He said despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the DOTr and its attached agencies did not stop the construction of infrastructure projects and initiatives that started at the start of the Duterte administration.
Tugade said the DOTr, through the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines and the Manila International Airport Authority, completed 212 airport projects and were pursuing 102 others.
He said that in the railway sector, the new Marikina and Antipolo stations of LRT-2 East Extension project would start operations on June 22, 2021.
The DOTr is also working on other railway projects such as the Metro Manila Subway, MRT-7, North-South Commuter Railway Project, LRT-1 Cavite Extension and Subic-Clark Railway Project, according to Tugade.
He said that in the maritime sector, the DOTr, together with the Philippine Ports Authority, completed 446 seaport projects since 2016 and was working on 117 more.
Tugade highlighted the completion of the country’s biggest passenger terminal building in the Port of Cagayan de Oro that could accommodate 3,000 passengers daily. He said that in Palawan, social tourism ports made the province easily accessible to nearby regions and neighboring countries.
“Are we finished? No. We would not stop building and rehabilitating airports, seaports and other infrastructure projects that will improve the lives of Filipinos,” Tugade said.
The “Build, Build, Build” program is the Duterte administration’s infrastructure development plan that is composed of thousands of projects to be implemented all over the country.
