By Kris M. Crismundo
MANILA, Sept. 30 (PNA) — The Philippine government’s 952 infrastructure projects for the second half of President Benigno S. Aquino III’s term requires an investment of some Php2.06 trillion or USD46.69 billion.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan, during the Philippine Economic Briefing Tuesday, said that from 2013 to 2016, the government has 952 priority programs and projects for the infrastructure sector nationwide which will help the Philippine economy to sustain its robust growth, attract more investors to venture into the country, improve competitiveness and promote inclusive growth.
Balisacan, who is also the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Director General, said that the 952 infrastructure projects covers broad subsectors which include transportation infrastructure, medical infrastructure, tourism infrastructure, basic infrastructure facilities and services, and energy, among others.
Balisacan said the Aquino administration prioritizes the implementation of the following infrastructure projects:
*Transport Infrastructure Development Roadmap for Metro Manila and its Surrounding Areas (Region III and IV-A);
*Logistics Infrastructure Roadmap for Mindanao;
*Department of Public Works and Higways (DPWH) and Department of Tourism (DOT) Convergence Plan;
*Flood Management Master Plan for Metro Manila and Surrounding Areas;
*e-Government Master Plan (EGMP); and
*2013-2017 Household Electrification Development Plan (HEDP) which eyes household electrification by 86.2 percent in 2016 and by 90 percent in 2017.
“In terms of basic infrastructure facilities and services, the government is working to provide clean and safe drinking water to 14 million Filipinos; construct additional 87,034 classrooms by end of 2016; provide 262,287 socialized housing units from 2014 to 2016; construct, rehabilitate and upgrade 12,295 basic health care hospitals and facilities from 2014 to 2016; and improve solid waste and wastewater management,” Balisacan added.
The government is also eyeing the adoption of the Integrated Services Digital Broadcast-Terrestrial (ISDB-T) or the Japanese standard in Digital Broadcasting that will further open opportunities for the development of Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) broadcast infrastructure in the country.
“The government is working to enhance the quality, adequacy and accessibility of the country’s infrastructure. The overall strategy of the government to accelerate infrastructure development is to increase public infrastructure spending from 2.2 percent of GDP (gross domestic product) in 2012 to at least 5.0 percent by 2016,” he mentioned.
Despite increase in public infrastructure spending, Balisacan noted that the Php2.06-trillion investment requirement for these projects remains huge, thus it will need support from private sector funding through Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs).
He also added that the completion of the projects will still remain on the next administrations on how fast they can implement the projects.
But for the part of the current administration, the country’s chief economist reiterated that the government is increasing the share to GDP of infrastructure spending. (PNA)