Duterte admin will struggle to finish bulk of Build, Build, Build in 2022 —The Economist

Finishing a significant number of projects under the ambitious infrastructure initiative "Build, Build, Build" before the end of President Rodrigo Duterte's term in 2022 will be a tussle for his administration, international business publication The Economist said Friday.

In an editorial, The Economist said that the "Build, Build, Build" program has "got off to a slow start."

With this, the publication said its Intelligence Unit maintains a view that "the authorities will struggle to complete the bulk of its infrastructure agenda before the next presidential election in 2022."

Opposition Senator Franklin Drilon earlier criticized the administration's infrastructure program as a "dismal failure" as he noticed that only nine of the 75 flagship programs have started construction. 

The Economist, meanwhile, said only two out of the 75 flagship projects have been completed.

"Bureaucratic hurdles and a lack of technical expertise are among the reasons for the delay. The focus has now shifted towards a public-private partnership (PPP) model," it said.

The flagship infrastructure program was initially meant to be funded through the General Appropriations Act (GAA; 67%), PPP (18%) and ODA (15%).

The publication took note of Duterte's appoinment of Bases Conversion and Development Authority president and CEO Vince Dizon as his presidential adviser for the flagship project.

"Mr. Dizon had earlier led a successful project to convert former military bases for civilian use," The Economist said.

"Since his appointment as adviser, Mr Dizon has initiated a revision of the list of infrastructure projects," it said.

The revised list, released in November, is comprised of 100 projects, which include regional airports and projects in information and communications technology, water, power and urban renewal.

"According to Mr. Dizon, some of the projects added to the list are based on unsolicited proposals and others will be tendered under the PPP model," The Economist said.

"We believe that Mr Dizon's appointment will lead to more infrastructure projects being executed through PPP, because such projects tend to be implemented more quickly than those financed by GAA and ODA," it said.

The Economist said among the other ministerial impediments was the delayed passage of the fiscal budget for 2019 and a mandatory public work ban that was put in place in the run-up to mid-term elections in May.

"This led to a year-on-year drop of 4.2% in infrastructure spending by the government in January-September 2019. Similarly, imports of iron and steel—major inputs in the construction sector—slumped by an average of 25.6% in the first eight months of the year compared with January-August 2018," it said.

"At the local level, projects suffer from the inherently exhaustive process of resident relocation, a dearth of technical expertise at local government level and a lack of skilled workers, such as excavator operators. The latter shortage is explained by the thousands of such workers who prefer more lucrative employment in the Middle East," it said. —LDF, GMA News