Gerard de la Peña, News5
The Duterte Administration’s economic managers were out in full force pitching what they described in one word as “Dutertenomics”, which they intend to leverage in the quest to chip away at poverty through infrastructure building.
For one, they pointed out that the past Aquino Administration spent barely 2.6 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on infrastructure. This time, under the Duterte dispensation, they indicated that the intention is to commit as much as 5.7% of GDP, or more than double, to infrastructure.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said: “Poor infrastructure is debilitating. It raises the costs of transporting groups between islands. That is the reason our food price regime is high. Our congested ports and roads discourage investors who need to operate on just-on-time deliveries.”
In the transportation sector, the government plans to embark on the ambitious project to build the so-called Mega Manila Subway, running from Quezon City to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, using Japanese technology.
Next to that would be the railway project connecting Manila to Clark Freeport in the north, and to the Bicol Region in the south.
There will likewise be a third major rail trunk running in Mindanao connecting Davao del Norte and Davao del Sur.
Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade referred to the range of initiatives as “a basket of solutions. It’s a basket of infrastructure.”
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