Infra buildup to improve connectivity, emergency response system in countryside, says Villar

The Duterte admin­istration’s ambitious program to ramp up investments in in­frastructure is meant not only to improve connectivity and boost economic productivity in the countryside, but also to develop the country’s emer­gency response system and better protect its communities most vulnerable to natural di­sasters.

Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Mark Villar said in­frastructure plays a key role in mitigating the effects of natural disasters and man-made con­flicts as shown by the lessons learned during the onslaught of super typhoon Yolanda and the Zamboanga City siege in 2013.

“In these separate cas­es, the presence of alternative gateways to city centers, which require intermodal transport systems, could have saved more lives and mitigated the effects of these crises on the affected communities,” Villar said.

Infrastructure is also in­dispensable to a robust econ­omy in the regions, especially those farthest from Metro Manila. Villar pointed out, for instance, the need to build a direct road link between the Caraga region and Bukidnon to enhance trade in Mindanao.

“Improving connectivity in the regions through physi­cal infrastructure is necessary not only to realize the gov­ernment’s goal of inclusive growth, but also to boost our emergency response systems and reduce our vulnerability to disasters, whether natural or man-made,” Villar said.

“Moreover, gaps in in­frastructure that deliver basic services exist and need to be funded. For instance, in the area of solid waste manage­ment, only 30 percent of the 42,028 barangays nationwide have materials recovery facili­ties,” Villar noted.

The Development Bud­get Coordination Committee (DBCC) has also stressed the need to improve the country’s disaster preparedness to avoid “hindrances” to the economy’s continuous high growth rate.

According to a statement released by the DBCC follow­ing its yearend meeting last December, “government rev­enues are expected to reach P2.913 trillion in 2018 once the tax reform package (sub­mitted by the Department of Finance to the Congress) is passed.”

“The projected proceeds of the tax reform package – around P206.8 billion under Package 1– will fund the gov­ernment’s big-ticket develop­ment projects, particularly the infrastructure program,” read the DBCC statement.

The DBCC statement also said that to sustain high growth, National Economic and Development Authori­ty (NEDA) Secretary Ernesto Pernia advised that the govern­ment remain vigilant of exter­nal risks such as Japan’s fragile expansion, the slowdown of China’s economy, and a possi­ble revival of protectionist pol­icies in the United States and Europe.

On the domestic front, “the country must intensify its disaster preparedness mea­sures as well as the logistics and infrastructure project co­ordination to avoid hindranc­es,” Pernia said.

Budget and Management Secretary Benjamin Diokno projects that the total infra­structure budget–both nation­al and local—will grow from P861 billion in 2017 to P1.898 trillion by 2022, or from 5.4 to around 7.0 percent of GDP.

“These record levels of spending will align our country with its more vibrant neighbors and put us on track to achieve our vision of eradicating extreme poverty and transforming our econ­omy into a high-income one by 2040,” Diokno said.

Diokno said, though, that this unprecedented in­frastructure spending can happen only if the govern­ment were to raise a lot more revenues to ensure the finan­cial viability of such an ambi­tious program.

“This can only be done by implementing broad and deep reforms in tax policy and administration through the enactment of the Depart­ment of Finance (DoF)-pro­posed Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP) now pending in the Con­gress,” Diokno noted.

The first package of the CTRP was submitted by the DOF to the Congress last Sept. 26.