Build, Build, Build program shifts to ‘high gear’ —DOF

The massive infrastructure spending program called Build, Build, Build is shifting to “high gear,” rolling out the first set of big-ticket projects this year, the Department of Finance (DOF) said Wednesday.

Among the big-ticket projects to be rolled out this year are the P23-billion Metro Manila Flood Management, the P151-billion Philippine National Railways South Long Haul Line, and the P355.6-billion Mega Manila Subway.

“I am sure the projects that have been planned for the DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) are going to go into high gear now that we have basically our capital already, our own funding for our portion of these projects,” Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said in an emailed statement.

The government plans to spend over P8 trillion until 2022 on the golden age of infrastructure, largely funded by tax revenue.

In December, President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion bill which reduced personal income tax rates and expanded the value-added tax base.

The measure is expected to generate an estimated P786.4 billion in the next five years, mainly to finance the infrastructure program.

This year alone, the Philippines is rolling out big-ticket projects cumulatively valued at $35.5 billion or P1.1 trillion.

“I guess this will also encourage the multilateral agencies and the other funding agencies to increase their lending to us,” Dominguez said. —Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VDS, GMA News