MANILA – There are at least 671 infrastructure projects already completed by the Department of Transportation (DOTr) less than a year before President Rodrigo Duterte steps down from office, with over 200 more projects expected to be completed before and even beyond his term.
In an editorial on Wednesday, Build, Build, Build Committee chair Anna Mae Yu Lamentillo said the DOTr has so far completed 214 airport projects, 451 commercial and social seaport projects, six railway projects — all these in addition to various road sector projects such as the Edsa Busway and Covid-19 mitigation efforts.
“The President’s instructions were clear from the onset: Finish as many Build, Build, Build projects as possible in the soonest possible time. Whoever gets the credit is none of our business,” Lamentillo said.
In the aviation sector, one of the big-ticket items is the recently completed passenger terminal building of the Clark International Airport by the DOTr and the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), increasing the airport’s passenger capacity from the previous 4.2 million to 12.2 million per year.
DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade, during a progress update on Build, Build, Build in June, said other notable completed airport projects are the Mactan-Cebu International Airport, and the Bohol-Panglao International Airport.
To date, about 100 more airport projects are ongoing with many expected to be completed before the end of Duterte’s term in June 2022.
In the maritime sector, the DOTr, through the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) has inaugurated hundreds of new and rehabilitated ports before and throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
Among these port projects are the Port of Cagayan de Oro with the country’s biggest port passenger terminal building with a capacity of 3,000 passengers, the Port of Borac in Coron, Palawan, the Port of Iligan in Lanao del Norte, and the Port of Masao in Agusan del Norte.
At least 101 seaport projects are ongoing to further help connect the archipelago.
In the railway sector, six railway projects have so far been completed while the Metro Rail Transit Line 3’s (MRT-3) “massive rehabilitation” is ongoing and has so far increased the train service’s operational speed and headway in the midst of the pandemic.
One of the completed railway projects is the Light Rail Transit Line 2 (LRT-2) East Extension project, extending the LRT-2 from Santolan Station by 3.8 kilometers and two new stations—Marikina and Antipolo stations.
Several big-ticket railway projects are also ongoing such as the 60.93 percent complete MRT-7, the 50.93 percent complete Common Station, the Metro Manila Subway—expected to be partially operational during the first quarter of 2022, and the 147-kilometers North-South Commuter Railway that will connect Clark, Pampanga down to the National Capital Region (NCR) all the way south to Calamba, Laguna.
Tugade said these new railway projects are seen to extend the country’s operational railways to 1,200 kilometers by 2022 and beyond, compared to about 76 kilometers of operational railways in 2016.
In the road transport sector, the DOTr has already completed the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange, with two other land terminals expected to be completed by 2022—the Taguig City Integrated Terminal Exchange (TCITX) and the North Integrated Terminal Exchange (NITX).
These terminals are expected to reduce traffic congestion by eliminating provincial bus terminals along Metro Manila’s major thoroughfares.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the DOTr has stepped up through the establishment of isolation facilities, One-Stop-Shops in NAIA terminals, and crew change hubs for maritime vessels.
Other programs meant to help during the Covid-19 pandemic are the Service Contracting Program which gave incentives to public utility drivers and provided free transportation to the public, the free ride for health care workers program, and the "Hatid-Tulong" program that helped stranded overseas Filipino workers return to their home provinces.
Tugade has also ordered DOTr attached agencies to remit their respective dividends to the national government to help fund other measures during the pandemic.
He highlighted the PPA which remitted PHP17.2 billion in just five years to the National Government against the PHP20.8 billion it remitted in the past 30 years, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines with a remittance of PHP21.1 billion in only four years compared to PHP1.3 billion it remitted from 2008-2016, and the Manila International Airport Authority which netted PHP13.9 billion in four years versus 11.1 billion it remitted from 1996 to 2015. (PNA)
