Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda, has proposed a “Build, Build More” infrastructure program for the Marcos administration that would amount to some P2.25 trillion in spending by the end of the President’s term.
The infrastructure program, filed through House Joint Resolution (HJR) No. 6, is said to be bigger than the former President Rodrigo Duterte’s flagship infrastructure program called “Build, Build, Build.”
“The BBM infrastructure program will be even bigger than Build, Build, Build under PRRD (Duterte), and we will be more open to financing it with private sector money, and not just taxpayer money as was the preference of PRRD’s economic managers,” Salceda said in a statement.
“Given our fiscal space, we will also aim for assets that are higher in quality, higher in economic returns, and higher in durability. That, in any case, is also the vision of PBBM’s infrastructure managers, whom I have already had preliminary discussions with,” he added.
He said the program will form part of the country’s National Infrastructure Development Framework, which will set a minimum annual infrastructure spending target that is expected to reach P2.25 trillion by 2028, the end of the Marcos administration.
If acted upon by both Houses, the proposals would adopt a national infrastructure framework geared toward what Salceda described as “both social and economic infrastructure” that would “end extreme poverty, create a stronger middle class, and accelerate sustainable and equitable economic growth".
The infrastructure program will prioritize 16 key areas, including agriculture, logistics, digital economy, disaster resiliency, healthcare, tourism, education and skills development, energy, housing, economic superregions, growth-supporting infrastructure, maritime connectivity, peace-supporting infrastructure in the Bangsamoro and other former conflict areas, ease of doing business, national spatial integration through a high standard highway network, and scientific development.
The infrastructure program aims “to generate infrastructure assets that are superior in quality and durability; to promote a balance in the allocation of infrastructure projects between high-growth-potential regions and regions lagging behind in economic growth; to be fiscally sustainable, funded in a manner that will yield the highest socioeconomic benefits at the lowest fiscal cost to government, consistent with a medium-term fiscal framework to be formulated by the national government".
The program will also “integrate and enhance disaster resilience and climate change adaptation including climate proofing of existing infrastructure inventory, relocation of high risk communities, and evacuation facilities for low and medium risk communities".
Salceda said that his proposal will complement another joint resolution about the government’s medium-term fiscal plan.
He added that he will soon meet with Leyte 1st district Rep. Martin Romualdez--believed to be a shoo-in for the House Speakership in the 19th Congress, to discuss the proposed medium-term fiscal plan and to meet with the economic managers.
“But basically, fiscal resources will determine how the proposed infra program will be funded,” he said.
Marcos’s infrastructure program will also work to complete and continue all pending major infrastructure projects inherited from the Duterte administration.
The program will also align the infrastructure program with the medium-term fiscal program, and will target spending six percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) on infrastructure, or the projected P2.25 trillion by 2028.