Senator Joel Villanueva on Sunday called on the government to ensure that the 45-day public works ban that would take effect on March 25, in preparation for the May 2022 elections, should be implemented in a way that would not affect jobs nor delay the completion of significant infrastructure projects especially in calamity-stricken areas.

“Employment should not be a casualty of election. And pandemic recovery should not take a back seat to polls,”said Villanueva, who chairs the Senate Committee on Labor and Employment.

“We have 10.1 million unemployed and underemployed. Let us not worsen this already bleak jobs picture,” the senator pointed out.

Villanueva, who is seeking re-election in the upcoming polls, noted that the number of workers in construction dipped to four (4) million after pandemic lockdowns stopped work on public and private projects.

As share to GDP, government expenditures account for about 16 percent, “so any slowdown in public construction will drag down growth,” Villanueva pointed out.

He also noted that halting construction of schools and hospitals “during summer when it is the best time to build before the rains come” will set back their completion.

“We should also take advantage of the ‘good weather window’ to fix farm infrastructure like roads and irrigation,” he said.

There is P1.183-trillion worth of government infrastructure projects allocated under the 2022 national budget, but Villanueva noted that the government is still catching up as a large chunk of the funding in 2020 and 2021 for infrastructure were diverted to boost health facilities and as financial aid to pandemic-hit households.

“If we press the ‘pause’ button, lalong atrasado na tayo (we will be super delayed),” Villanueva warned.

He also noted that election laws and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) resolution on government infrastructure projects “grant a wide leeway in the handing out of exemptions to the public works ban.” Among those exempted in the ban are ongoing projects or those awarded before March 25 as well as those that “emergency work necessitated by the occurrence of a public calamity.”

That is why, he said, it is imperative to ensure that public works protocol is implemented according to law during the 45-day campaign period and those exemptions must be respected.

“Igalang ang exemptions. Mahirap naman kung bababa tayo sa Alert Level 1, fully opened up ang ekonomiya, tapos may moratorium sa public construction (Let’s respect the exemptions. It would be hard if we shifted to Alert Level 1, the economy fully opened up and yet there is a moratorium on public construction),” Villanueva stated.