House panel OKs bill seeking to institutionalize ‘Build,Build, Build’

THE House of Representatives’ Committee on Public Works and Highways approved on Wednesday a measure seeking to adopt a 30-year national infrastructure plan.

House Bill (HB) 8151 that was sponsored by committee chairman Rep. Romeo Momo, Sr. aims to institutionalize the Duterte administration’s “Build, Build, Build” program from 2023 to 2052.

Momo stressed the need for a long-term perspective as “major infra projects are generally capital-intensive [and] take several years to prepare, design, and implement.”

“This will ensure continuity in the development and implementation of projects in the 30-year program across administrations, regardless of changes in national leadership,” he said, adding that it would serve as a “predictable road map for the construction industry, investors, and related sectors in crafting and carrying out their long-term business plans.”

The CWS party-list lawmaker further said that the need to provide “more lasting and effective engineering measures” were further prompted by the recent calamities, coupled with the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

The bill will rationalize the six-year, medium-term and annual infrastructure programs, and will serve as the framework for the locations, magnitudes, inkages, and timing of public and private investments in major infrastructure projects for “maximum socio-economic impact.”

“It lays down policies and strategies to be pursued by the government to select and prioritize the component national infrastructure projects in the program and includes [an] initial list of priority projects, subject to regular updating by the [National Economic and Development Authority], in coordination with oversight and implementing agencies,” said Momo.

Under HB 8151, the proposed budget allocation is at least five percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which should be consistent with the ceilings set by the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC).