The Senate is poised to conduct an inquiry into the financial requirements of the Duterte administration’s over P1-trillion “Build, Build, Build” (BBB) projects, with a view to weighing the debt risks.
Sen. Sherwin T. Gatchalian, Economic Affairs Committee chairman, said over the weekend the upcoming review is intended to “ensure the judicious, prudent and sound economic planning” by the government as senators assess the “status, sustainability and risks of projects” to be funded under the massive infrastructure program.
“There is a need to closely monitor the debt obligations and modes of financing incurred and adopted by the Duterte administration for its Build, Build, Build program to ensure transparency, accountability, and prudent use of loans and other financing methods utilized by the government,” the senator said in filing a resolution to conduct the BBB hearings, expected to be officially referred to his committee soon as Congress reconvenes regular sessions on July 23.
He pointed out that 40 out of 75 approved infrastructure projects as of July 2017 was expected to be funded through official development assistance, which comprises the bulk of expenditures amounting to P1.006 trillion.
This, the senator noted, as the national government’s total outstanding debt as of December 2017 already added up to P6.65 trillion, while around P329.05 billion was allocated for debt servicing in the 2018 General Appropriations Act.
Just this month, Gatchalian recalls the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reported that the country’s external debt-to-GDP ratio was 23.3 percent in 2017—a five-year low and a 5.6-percent decrease from the 28.9-percent ratio recorded in 2013.
He stressed that it is “incumbent upon us senators, in the exercise of our power of the purse, to ensure that public funds diverted from health, education and social services financing for debt services payment are properly appropriated.”
Gatchalian added that as a flagship infrastructure program of the Duterte administration, “the BBB is expected to spur infrastructure spending from 2017 to 2022 to about P8 [trillion] to P9 trillion, resulting in annual infra spending of P1.4 trillion.”