THE Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on Thursday said a number of infrastructure projects approved by the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) under the Duterte administration will start to break ground by the fourth quarter of the year.
Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said among these projects that will commence implementation are the Binondo-Intramuros bridge and the Estrella-Pantaleon bridge. These bridge projects, he added, will help ease traffic congestion in Metro Manila.
“Some of them [projects] will be started [in the] fourth quarter of this year. We’ll be groundbreaking the bridges, for example, and some projects, but most of them will be started next year,” Diokno told financial reporters at the sidelines of the Arangkada Philippines Forum 2017 at the Marriott Grand Ballroom on Thursday.
The two bridge projects are funded by grants from the Chinese government, with the combined amount of P97 billion.
When asked if the government would wait for the approval of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program before starting the infrastructure projects approved by Neda, Diokno pointed out that it will go as planned.
“No, we won’t wait for the tax reform,” he added.
In terms of the labor force that will be needed for the infrastructure buildup planned by the government under the Duterte administration, the budget chief said an “overwhelming” number of workers and laborers will be needed for the implementation of all the projects.
“Luckily, we will not do it all at one time, so it’s going to be an S-curve as I said. We have enough time to prepare for that. I think we have 1.2 million people to join the labor force every year,” he said.
He added that graduating students will be joining the labor force, as well as overseas Filipino workers who are coming back in the country, among others, can be tapped to support the government’s “Build, Build, Build” (BBB) program.
According to Diokno, the ambitious BBB program directly addresses the fourth point of the 10-point socioeconomic agenda, which seeks accelerate annual infrastructure spending to account for 5 percent of GDP with public-private partnerships playing a key role.
“The present poor state of infrastructure reflects decades of neglect and misallocation of public resources,” Diokno said.
Infrastructure spending is projected to increase from 5.4 percent to 7.3 percent of GDP from 2017 to 2022. Such increase will be accommodated through an expansion of fiscal space, with the fiscal deficit to be increased from 2 percent to 3 percent of the country’s GDP, coupled with tax policy and administrative reforms.