The Build, Build, Build (BBB) Program aims to help in the economic recovery of the country by creating more jobs and by improving infrastructures. Since the program started in 2016, many projects were accomplished but there are still more to be built until the end of President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s term in 2022.
In an article from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) website, projects that were completed from July 2016 to December 2020 were:
• 26,494 kilometers of roads
• 5,555 bridges
• 10,376 flood control structures
• 144,925 classrooms
• 2,036 school workshop buildings and other school facilities
• 187 evacuation centers
While completed and ongoing projects amid the pandemic include:
• P2.2 billion Urdaneta City By-pass Road
• Bulacan Pulilan-Baliuag Diversion Road
• TPLEX-Luzon Spine Expressway Network
• NLEX Harbor Link and extension
• Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3
• San Fernando By-pass Road
• Bulacan Arterial Road, Sariaya By-pass Road
• Sorsogon City Coastal By-Pass Road
• BGC-Ortigas Center Link Roads connecting Taguig, Makati, and Pasig City
• Binondo-Intramuros Bridge
• Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge connecting the cities of Mandaluyong and Makati
• Alabang-Sucat Extension, South Link, and Cavite-Laguna Expressway
• Flood risk projects in Cavite and Cagayan de Oro City
• Davao City Coastal Road, and 11-kilometer Samar Pacific Coastal Road
• Rehabilitation of Marawi City and its surrounding areas
• 816 quarantine facilities
• 24 additional modular hospitals
These projects show that the BBB program is successful. But with the continuous surge of COVID cases and the seemingly very limited response of the government to the pandemic makes one wonder where their priorities lie. The question also remains: Will these infrastructures under the BBB create long-term job opportunities to aid in economic recovery?
Photo Source: Facebook/Mark Villar