Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Jaime Bautista on Tuesday, April 11, vowed to finish the maintenance of 18 airports, including road sector and maritime projects by June, just before President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s State of the Nation (SONA).
(Photo from the Presidential Communications Office)
“Well, we have reported to the President our projects that can be completed before the SONA and most of these are aviation and road sector projects and maritime projects,” he said during a press briefing in Malacañang.
The official shared that his department expects to finish the maintenance of around 18 airports in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao by June.
Bautista also said some 20 ports are expected to be completed before the same month.
Road sector projects, which would include the construction of bike lanes and rail sector projects, would also form part of the DOTr’s milestones before the SONA.
“We have reported the finalization of different contract packages for the North-South Commuter Railway, also contract packages that we signed for the Metro Manila Subway,” Bautista said.
He added that included in their report to the President are the developments of the Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT-7), a 23-kilometer elevated railway line connecting Quezon North Avenue and San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan.
The official said the MRT-7 is expected to be completed by June 2025.
The extension of Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1) from Baclaran to Sucat would also be completed by 2024, Bautista added.
The improvements in the country’s infrastructure is part of the Marcos administration’s “Build, Better, More” program, which builds on the previous Duterte administration’s “Build, Build, Build” program.
Marcos’ BBM program aims to target infrastructure spending around five percent to six percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) annually.