Camarines Sur Rep. LRay Villafuerte has welcomed President Duterte’s fresh push in his final State of the Nation Address (SONA) for an accelerated “Build, Build, Build” program in the homestretch of his term, hoping this would lead to the faster implementation or revival especially of flagship projects outside Metro Manila.
Villafuerte said that Camarines Sur folk, for instance, have expressed the hope that the President’s SONA order to his economic managers to speed up the completion of flagship projects would clear the way to the implementation of at least two “Build, Build, Build” expressways whose funding, though included in the House-approved National Expenditure Program (NEP), were surprisingly deleted from the then-proposed 2021 General Appropriations Act (GAA) that was subsequently submitted by the bicameral Congress for Malacañang’s approval.
“We are appealing to the President’s economic managers to make Camarines Sur folk delighted too by restoring the funding for the flagship projects in Camarines Sur that were already approved by the NEDA-ICC, in keeping with the President’s order for them to fast-track ‘Build, Build, Build’ projects, especially those outside the national capital.”
The intended funds for these two flagship projects had “vanished” from public works appropriations under Republic Act (RA) No. 11518 or the 2021 GAA—even if both were already approved by the top-level National Economic and Development Authority-Investment Coordination Committee (NEDA-ICC)—are the Camarines Sur Expressway Project and the Pasacao-Balatan Tourism Coastal Highway.
The infrastructure funds for Camarines Sur that were taken off the 2021 GAA actually total P1.15 billion, if one were to include a third major road project in Camarines Sur—the Camarines Sur-Albay Diversion Road—whose outlay had similarly disappeared from the 2021 national budget.
Villafuerte appealed to economic managers to heed the President’s SONA directive for them to accelerate infrastructure development by either augmenting or even increasing national budget funds for these Camarines Sur projects or including them on the list of projects for Official Development Assistance (ODA) funding.
“We are hoping that President Duterte’s SONA order for his economic managers to fast-track the implementation of ‘Build, Build, Build’ projects due for completion before his term ends in June 2022 would lead to the implementation of these projects to decongest traffic in major arteries across Bicol and cut travel time between the region’s provinces,” Villafuerte said. “They could augment or even increase GAA funds to bankroll these Camarines Sur projects or include them on the list of ODA-financed ventures.”
He stressed that the implementation of these major road networks, which would generate a lot of jobs and supercharge growth in Camarines Sur and the rest of Bicol, has acquired urgency because in his SONA directive, “the President directed the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Transportation (DOTr), Department of Finance (DOF), Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and NEDA to go “full speed” on flagship projects, “especially those that would disperse economic activity” outside Metro Manila.
In his last SONA, the President said: “And to sustain our momentum in infrastructure development, I have directed the DPWH, DOTr, NEDA, DOF and DBM to be on full speed to ensure that our flagship projects will be completed within my term, …. especially those that would help disperse economic activity outside the densely populated Metro Manila.”
In his SONA, among the “Build, Build, Build” projects that the President mentioned was a coastal road in Sorsogon. “The Sorsogon City Coastal By-Pass Road is targeted for completion by the end of 2021 ….,” said the President.
“We are happy for Sorsogon folk who are likely ecstatic over the implementation of Sorsogon City’s coastal by-pass road,” Villafuerte said. “We are appealing to the President’s economic managers to make Camarines Sur folk delighted too by restoring the funding for the flagship projects in Camarines Sur that were already approved by the NEDA-ICC, in keeping with the President’s order for them to fast-track ‘Build, Build, Build’ projects, especially those outside the national capital.”
“Our people are earnestly looking forward to these projects’ completion and are expecting them to be finished by 2022, within this administration,” Villafuerte said.
During last year’s bicameral conference committee negotiations on the 2021 budget plan, Villafuerte called on senators to keep tabs on undue cuts in the proposed infrastructure outlays for certain congressional districts that the House leadership under Speaker Lord Allan Velasco had effected ‘on the sly” in the House-approved NEP.
“If the current House leadership claims to be fully supportive of the Duterte administration, why has it slashed on the sly the DPWH outlays in the House-endorsed General Appropriations Bill (GAB) for three of the flagship projects in Bicol that were approved by the NEDA Board chaired by the President himself?” he stressed.
The NEP is the national budget plan that Malacañang submits to the Congress after the President delivers his annual SONA, while the GAB is the proposed GAA approved by both chambers and then submitted to the Palace for the President’s approval.
“The lack of funding this year for these critically important projects affects the national infrastructure program of the President as well as the people of Camarines Sur and Southern Luzon who will stand to benefit from the projects’ completion.”
The Camarines Sur Expressway is a 15-kilometer (km), four-lane road with waterways, bike lanes and sidewalks that will serve as an alternate route for motorists going to the eastern and southern municipalities and of those going to Sorsogon and Albay, while the Pasacao-Balatan Tourism Highway is a 40.69-km, four-lane coastal road along the province’s west coast that will provide access to assorted tourism sites.
The Camarines Sur-Albay Diversion Road, meanwhile, is a 61.90-km road project that will decongest the main road from the province to Albay.
In an April 6 letter to DPWH Secretary Mark Villar—and furnished DBM Secretary Wendel Avisado—Villafuerte sought the immediate augmentation of the budget for the three road projects “to restore the funding that was slashed out of the 2021 National Budget in the total amount of P1.150 billion. The first two (Camarines Sur Expressway and Pasacao-Balatan Tourism Highway) are in fact NEDA-ICC-approved flagship projects of the administration.”
He informed Villar that these projects were not in the 2021 GAA “despite these appearing to be funded from the NEP and both versions of the GAB.”
Villafuerte said the 2021 NEP provided for P500 million (Package 4) and P200 million (Package 5) for the Camarines Sur Expressway, and P150 million for the Pasacao-Balatan Tourism Highway. On the other hand, the 2021 NEP and GAB provided for P150 million for the Camarines Sur -Albay Diversion Road (Package 1) and another P150 million for the same Camarines Sur-Albay Diversion Road (Package 2).
“The lack of funding this year for these critically important projects affects the national infrastructure program of the President as well as the people of Camarines Sur and Southern Luzon who will stand to benefit from the projects’ completion,” he told Villar in his letter.
Villafuerte said the Camarines Sur Expressway and Pasacao-Balatan Tourism Highway are of “national importance and form part of the flagship projects of the ‘Build, Build, Build’ program of this administration. The Camarines Sur Expressway is in fact a crucial part in developing the Luzon Spine Network.”
He said the Camarines Sur Expressway Project aims to decongest the worsening heavy traffic at the section of the National Highway going to and from Naga City and Pili town, considered as the centers of trade and industry, educational, cultural and tourism activities in the region.
“At present, this area suffers from heavy traffic especially during the summer and the celebration of festivities,” he said. “The intention of this project is to maximize the very promising economic and social potential of the region that would otherwise be hampered if the present traffic situation remains unsolved.”
The completion of this project will not only decongest Naga, Pili and the nearby municipalities but will also benefit millions of those going to Albay, Sorsogon and even the Visayas and Mindanao, he said.
As for the Pasacao-Balatan Tourism Coastal Highway, he said this is “foreseen to boost agri-business and tourist activities in the area, and affect thousands of lives in terms of livelihood. The barangays and municipalities that this highway will be connecting are far in between, and the project is projected to lessen the cost of mobility of the families living within the influence area and increase other farming activities. It is also foreseen to have a big impact on the over-all cost of transporting and hauling harvests to processing centers.”
