EXPERTS from the academe and private sector have exhorted the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to learn from the lessons of the Duterte administration’s Build, Build, Build program, and ensure a more consumer-friendly and transparent infrastructure program.
In his presentation, Professor Edwin Santiago, Stratbase ADRi Non-resident Fellow and De La Salle University Department of Political Science Assistant Professor, urged the Marcos Jr. administration to learn the lessons from China-funded infrastructure projects under the Duterte government and called on the new administration to ensure transparency and accountability in its infrastructure program.
Santiago discussed in his presentation the issues surrounding the Chico River Pump Irrigation Project and the Kaliwa Dam Project. These include environmental degradation, defective consultation process, questionable selection of contractors, disadvantageous interest rates, onerous contract provisions, and the lack of transparency.
“While infrastructure is important, it should not be infrastructure at all cost, or at any cost. We must hold our leaders accountable because we have seen so many times how a particular need is abused so many people can get away with a lot of things. If there is water shortage, does that mean that just to address the water shortage, we will allow the government to do whatever it wants even with certain unsavory parts of the deal? I don’t think we should allow that,” he explained in a recent virtual roundtable discussion organized by the Stratbase Albert del Rosario Institute (ADRi) in partnership with consumer advocacy group CitizenWatch Philippines. The forum tackled the experts’ assessments on the Duterte administration’s infrastructure program and their recommendations for the current Marcos administration.
“It is very clear that the issues are the same and recurring in these projects. Most glaring is the trademark lack of transparency that strongly suggests irregularities. It has been argued that there is no need for confidentiality if everything is above board,” Santiago argued.
He also underscored the importance of getting the consensus of stakeholders in the planning and development of the government’s infrastructure program.
“There is geo-location bias in the Build, Build, Build from the onset. Completed projects are located in the National Capital Region. Another adage comes into mind here: Those who have less in life should have more in law. In the case of the BBB, however, considering the poverty map in the country, those who have less in life, have also less in BBB budget and project allocation. Isn’t that ironic?” he added.
In his presentation, University of the Philippines-Virata School of Business Professor Emeritus Dr. Epictetus Patalinghug listed the challenges the previous administration faced that led to the inefficient implementation of the Duterte administration’s Build, Build, Build (BBB) program. He is also Stratbase ADRi Trustee and Program Convenor.
The Duterte administration’s medium-term goal was to increase infrastructure spending from 5.4 percent of the gross domestic product in 2017 to 7.3 percent in 2022. However, in 2019, the government announced the shift to a hundred less ambitious and more doable projects. From 2017-2021, the government spent only about P4.98 trillion or about 5.5 percent of the country’s GDP for infrastructure projects. As of October 31, 2021, only eight projects worth P94.64 billion were completed and 77 projects worth P3.5 trillion were ongoing. Of these, 30 were still in preconstruction activities.
“There was weak strategic guidance…There was poor project appraisal. I don’t think the National Economic and Development Authority, Department of Transportation, and the Department of Public Works and Highways have an internal capacity to do rapid appraisal. You always need World Bank money, ADB money to hire consultants. Then you have poor project selection and budgeting. As usual, completion delays and cost overruns. And very few interim and ex-post project evaluations are done in our projects,” Patalinghug explained.
Patalinghug, however, noted that the institutional problem of departments lacking absorptive capacity cannot be solved within the next six years of the Marcos administration.
“So, the best thing for President Marcos Jr. is just to look at the shovel-ready projects left by the Duterte government and implement them—the Metro Manila subway, the North-South Commuter Railway. This must transect shovel-ready projects like the Calamba, Tutuban [railway], it is still lacking in bidding acceptance from DOTr for the past two years,” he explained.
Patalinghug also recommended prioritizing consumer-friendly projects and streamlining the approval process of major infrastructure projects.
“[One], make it super ready in less than two years, not spend three to four years for processing projects. Two, strengthen project management and monitoring. Three, simplify the Implementing Rules and Regulations [IRR] of the Procurement Reform Law. Four, improve the regulatory framework in the PPP program by focusing on solicited proposals,” he said.
“In Stratbase ADR Institute, we advocate for the government’s adoption of a more investment-driven strategy for long-term growth and development. And we’ll continue to champion how the private sector has demonstrated its capacity as a prime mover, not only in innovation in delivering goods and services, but in creating value in the lives of the statements of Philippine society. They create jobs, alleviate poverty, and now are champions in promoting sustainability,” explained Stratbase ADR Institute President Victor Andres Manhit.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes
