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MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s economic team provided more details of his administration’s infrastructure program, saying that they plan to roll out 194 flagship projects amounting to P9 trillion.
In a Palace briefing on Thursday, March 9, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said some of the new projects included in the list are the following:
- Panay Railway Project
- Mindanao Railway Project III
- North Long Haul Railway
- San Mateo Railway
- UP-PGH Diliman Project
- Ninoy Aquino International Airport Rehabilitation Project
- Ilocos Sur Transbasin Project
- Metro Cebu Expressway
Majority of the other infrastructure flagship projects are for physical connectivity, water, digital connectivity, health, power and energy, and agriculture. NEDA has yet to upload the Marcos administration’s full list on its website.
Of the 194 projects, 45 are seen to be financed through partnerships with the private sector.
“The new IFPs (infrastructure flagship projects) are seen to address the binding constraints to business investment and expansion that will create more high-quality and resilient jobs that will allow us to meet our poverty-reduction goals for the medium term,” Balisacan said.
The NEDA secretary also said 95 of the projects are already ongoing and have been approved for implementation, while 47 are undergoing feasibility studies.
Balisacan added that these projects will be “prioritized under the government’s annual budget preparation and enjoy the benefits of expedited issuance of applicable permits and licenses consistent with current legal frameworks.”
Marcos’ infrastructure plan is 91% more expensive than former president Rodrigo Duterte’s P4.7-trillion infrastructure program.
At the start of Duterte’s term, his economic team aimed for an P8-trillion infrastructure program, but the list and amount were revised multiple times. Only around P82 billion worth of projects, or 18 out of 199 projects, were completed under Duterte. (READ: Build, Build, Build: Mapping the Duterte administration’s infrastructure legacy) – Rappler.com
1 comment
How does this make you feel?
“ Of the 194 projects, 45 are seen to be financed through partnerships with the private sector.” The government is already in deep debt – how are the projects going to be financed? More debt? Hopefully, the kickbacks don’t kill us completely.