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Build Build Build Program

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28 views4 pages

Build Build Build Program

Uploaded by

Richard Tolentino
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Build Build Build Program

Can Build, Build, Build really helps the economy bounce back quickly?

Answer:

-We doubt it. Even before the pandemic, Build, Build, Build proceeded at a glacial pace and was not as
growth-inducing as trumpeted by the economic managers.

If key agencies – notably the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Department of
Transportation (DOTr) – can’t deliver Build, Build, Build projects in normal times, what more in a
pandemic?

-We also worry that Build, Build, Build may become a patronage instrument for local officials,
overloaded with non-essential, non-strategic infrastructure projects.

Build Build Build program is a “Dismal Failure”

Back in 2017, President Rodrigo Duterte’s economic managers boldly envisioned a “golden age of
infrastructure.” Three years later, officials claim they’ve successfully “jacked up” infrastructure
spending.

First, realizing that many of the projects they dreamed up were infeasible, Duterte’s economic managers
have had to modify their master list of projects and replace some big projects with smaller, more doable
ones.

Second, government failed to stick to its original infrastructure budget targets. In the last two national
budgets Congress programmed infrastructure allocations way lower than the targets originally set by the
economic managers
Figure 1

Third, Build, Build, Build has been marred by chronic underspending. This can be gleaned from the gap
between “obligations” and “disbursements.”

Obligations refer to liabilities incurred by the government when an agency enters into contracts for the
delivery of projects. Disbursements refer to the cold cash withdrawn from the Bureau of the Treasury to
pay for such obligations

If less money is being disbursed than the amounts that were obligated, that’s called underspending and
it signals slow, inefficient project implementation.

Underspending has been particularly bad in Build, Build, Build’s two lead agencies: the DPWH and DOTr.

Figure 2

An analysis done by the Institute for Leadership, Empowerment, and Democracy (iLEAD) shows that
these two agencies managed to disburse less than half of their total obligations for the past 3 years on
average (Figure 2 shows the data for DPWH).

This appalling spending performance has been called out by the Commission on Audit (COA) in multiple
reports. Although both the DPWH and DOTr’s disbursement rates somewhat improved in 2019, they
continued to underspend.
Figure 3

Fourth, government construction projects have not been a key driver of growth.

Figure 3 shows that from 2017 public works accounted for just about a quarter of total growth in the
construction sector. In the first half of 2019 public construction even shrank by 14 percentage points
owing to budget delays.

In principle infrastructure does have multiplier effects, meaning a peso of infrastructure spending
contributes more than a peso to the economy at large. But to our knowledge no proper study has yet
looked at the multipliers for Build, Build, Build projects.

https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/analysis-why-we-cannot-build-our-way-out-of-
coronavirus-pandemic

This link above is for the article

https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/analysis-moving-goalposts-duterte-build-build-build-
program

The link above can be used against us or can be used against the link above

https://www.dof.gov.ph/build-build-build-to-break-vicious-circle-of-weak-supply-demand/

This shitty link above can be a powerful weapon against us (wala ako maisip na ano pede itanong dito or
kung irerebat natin to kunwari meron silang gantong statement)
THE NEW BUILD! BUILD! BUILD! (BBB) PROGRAM: RISKS, CHALLENGES AND POLICY OPTIONS

The Build! Build! Build! (BBB) Program was meant to bring about significant improvements in
infrastructure growth in the country to catch up with rapid urbanization and population growth.
However, it has been beset with problems that resulted in serious delays in project completion including
lack of technology, right-of-way acquisition problems, poor project preparation and identification and
procurement problems, among others.

The onset of COVID-19 in 2020 which took a heavy toll on the global economy has not spared the
country’s BBB Program. Apart from the disruption in construction activities, fiscal pressures weighed
heavily on the government and its development partners’ ability to raise funds to finance and ensure
the timely completion of these vital infrastructure projects in favor of more urgent COVID-19 responses,
including health and digital infrastructure. Not to mention the poor absorptive capacity of major
infrastructure agencies, significant losses suffered by the country’s top businesses as a result of the
health crisis likewise cast doubts in many BBB projects for public-private partnership financing.

https://cpbrd.congress.gov.ph/2012-06-30-13-06-51/2012-06-30-13-36-46/1218-cn2020-02-the-new-
build-build-build-bbb-program-risks-challenges-and-policy-options

this link is for the article above

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