The Duterte administration has dropped eight projects from its Build, Build, Build (BBB) infrastructure program and added 13 new ones that will help in post-COVID-19 recovery, according to presidential adviser for flagship programs and projects Vivencio Dizon.
The shelved projects worth P370 billion, still in the feasibility study level, are the following:
- Bataan-Cavite Link Bridge
- Dalton Pass East Alignment
- New Zamboanga International Airport
- New Dumaguete Airport
- Panay River Basin Integrated Development
- Kabulnan Multipurpose Irrigation and Power
- Kanan Dam
- Guimaras-to-Negros portion of the Panay-Guimaras-Negros Bridge
Dizon in a virtual press conference on August 6 said those shelved were replaced with 13 projects that are “shovel-ready and responsive to the needs post-COVID-19.”
The 13 new projects on the BBB list are the following:
- Metro Manila Logistics Network-Pasig River and Manggahan Floodway Bridges
- North Luzon Expressway Harbor Link Extension to Anda Circle
- General Santos City Airport
- Virology Science and Technology Institute of the Philippines
- Land Transportation Office Central Command Center
- Motor Vehicle Recognition and Enhancement System
- National Broadband Program
- ICT Capacity Development and Management Program
- Water District Development Sector Projects of the Asian Development Bank
- National Irrigation Sector Rehabilitation and Improvement Project
- Balog-Balog Multipurpose Project Phase 2 in Tarlac
- Jalaur River Multipurpose Project Stage 2 in Iloilo
- Lower Agno River Irrigation System Improvement Project in Pangasinan
“We aim to implement these projects and start them within the President’s term. All projects will be started by 2022,” Dizon said.
Meanwhile, the government has retained 92 of the 100 BBB projects listed in 2019, now having a total cost of roughly P4.1 trillion, said Dizon. Altogether the number of BBB projects is 105.
The projects cover five categories, with transport and mobility as the top priority. The other four are power, water, information and communications technology, and urban development and renewal.
