NEWS

By Paolo Romero | The Philippine Star | February 2, 2022 12:00AM

Sen. Panfilo Lacson said a good public infrastructure program is vital in boosting the economy, so Filipinos can expect him to build on the achievements of past administrations in the sector once elected president. STAR / File

MANILA, Philippines — Partido Reporma standard bearer Sen. Panfilo Lacson will implement the best features of the Build, Build, Build and the public-private partnership (PPP), the flagship infrastructure programs of the Duterte and Aquino administrations, respectively, if he wins the presidency in the May 9 elections.

Lacson said a good public infrastructure program is vital in boosting the economy, so Filipinos can expect him to build on the achievements of past administrations in the sector once elected president.

He added he is open to continuing the infrastructure projects that would be left behind by the incumbent administration subject to the state of the country’s overall financial health.

The senator noted that he recognized what the Build, Build, Build program of President Duterte tried to accomplish, but he is leaning toward the possible return of the PPP approach that was initiated by the late former president Benigno Aquino III.

“Instead of the Build, Build, Build, let’s go back to PPP, because we are deep in debt right now. So, we need to compress our government expenditure a bit, our public expenditure, because right now (our national budget) is at P5 trillion,” he told “The Mangahas Interviews” aired over GMA News last Saturday.

“Let us go back to that level of expenditure with lesser focus on infrastructure because there are other things that take higher priority, such as public health, productivity and so forth,” he added.

A shift to PPP will enable the government to keep building roads, bridges and other public infrastructure projects that remain in the pipeline without sacrificing other areas of governance that equally need appropriate budgets.

“But we cannot disregard infrastructure altogether because this is an investment; the foreign investors need it. If we don’t have enough infrastructure projects, we can’t expect foreign investments to keep flowing,” he said.

Meanwhile, former senator JV Ejercito said the next administration should continue the Build, Build, Build program which, for him, is necessary to address the country’s backlogs in infrastructure.

“We are behind in the last 25 to 30 years when it comes to infrastructure,” Ejercito told Bai Radyo Dumaguete.

Ejercito, one of the most vocal advocates of mass transit and transportation infrastructure in the 17th Congress, also lauded the flagship infrastructure program for expanding railway systems and improving airports and seaports across the country.

He said a total of 212 airport projects; 446 seaport projects; 10,376 flood mitigation structures; 26,494 kilometers of road and 5,555 bridges were completed under the program, citing a government briefing last year.

Currently under construction are 102 airport projects; 117 seaport projects; 1,090.30 kilometers of railway; 2,587 flood mitigation structures; 2,515 kilometers of road and 1,020 bridges.

Alongside the continuation of the Build, Build, Build program, the former senator said the national government should adopt a comprehensive infrastructure masterplan that will set the country’s infrastructure program for the next 50 years.

“I wish that every president who will lead the country will continue to build on infrastructure,” Ejercito said in Filipino.

“The comprehensive infrastructure masterplan will create millions of jobs and this will be a big factor in spreading out the development,” he added.

Source: Philstar