July 15th, 2022
House Ways and Means Chair Joey Sarte Salceda (Albay, 2nd district) has filed House Joint Resolution No. 6, “adopting ‘Build, Build More as a National Infrastructure Development Framework for the country, setting a minimum annual infrastructure spending target and for other purposes.” The proposal, if enacted as a Joint Resolution by both houses, would adopt a national infrastructure framework geared towards what Salceda describes as “both social and economic infrastructure” that would “end extreme poverty, create a stronger middle class, and accelerate sustainable and equitable economic growth.”
The infrastructure program will prioritize 16 key areas, including agriculture, logistics, digital economy, disaster resiliency, healthcare, tourism, education and skills development, energy, housing, economic superregions, growth-supporting infrastructure, maritime connectivity, peace-supporting infrastructure in the Bangsamoro and other former conflict areas, ease of doing business, national spatial integration through a high standard highway network, and scientific development.
The principles of the program are “to generate infrastructure assets that are superior in quality and durability; to promote a balance in the allocation of infrastructure projects between high-growth-potential regions and regions lagging behind in economic growth; to be fiscally sustainable, funded in a manner that will yield the highest socioeconomic benefits at the lowest fiscal cost to government, consistent with a medium-term fiscal framework to be formulated by the National Government; and to integrate and enhance disaster resilience and climate change adaptation including climate proofing of existing infrastructure inventory, relocation of high risk communities, and evacuation facilities for low and medium risk communities.
Salceda says that the Joint Resolution is expected to complement another Joint Resolution on the government’s medium term fiscal plan.
“Speaker Romualdez discussed with me a proposed medium term fiscal plan from the National Government yesterday, and we will meet with the economic managers on our view of the proposal.”
“But basically, fiscal resources will determine how the proposed infra program will be funded.”
The BBM infra program will also direct the completion and continuation of all pending major infrastructure projects inherited by the Marcos administration.
It will align the infrastructure program with the medium term fiscal program.
It will target spending 6 percent of GDP on infrastructure by the end of the Marcos administration, or a projected P2.25 trillion by 2028.
It also opens financing of infrastructure programs to “deeply concessional official development assistance, the issuance of bonds during favorable market conditions, and public-private partnerships and joint ventures.”
It also seeks to help build local government units fund local infrastructure programs “through capacity development among local government units, the development of a local government credit scoring mechanism that private financial institutions can use, the establishment of a system for offering municipal bonds in a fiscally sustainable manner, and assistance in navigating public-private partnership transactions.”
“The BBM infrastructure program will be even bigger than Build, Build, Build under PRRD, and we will be more open to financing it with private sector money, and not just taxpayer money as was the preference of PRRD’s economic managers,” Salceda said.
“Given our fiscal space, we will also aim for assets that are higher in quality, higher in economic returns, and higher in durability. That, in any case, is also the vision of PBBM’s infrastructure managers, whom I have already had preliminary discussions with,” Salceda added.