MANILA, Philippines – “It’s a waste of time to talk about credit.”
This was how Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Mark Villar reacted on Wednesday to insinuations of credit-grabbing when several infrastructure projects which were touched off by previous administrations were completed or are nearing completion under the Duterte administration’s Build, Build, Build initiative.
During a Meet Inquirer forum, Villar was pressed for comment on claims that the current administration is grabbing credit from infrastructure projects which were started in previous administrations, including the new Bohol-Panglao International Airport, the Cebu airport and the NLEX-SLEX connector.
“I don’t care about credit. Wala naman akong pakialam sa credit eh, it’s not important. What’s important is matapos yung project. All of these projects were used with the people’s money,” Villar stressed..
“I don’t want to talk about credit anymore. I just want to talk about what projects we will finish under our time,” he added.
He said that the DPWH is focused on accomplishing projects that could be completed under the Duterte administration, noting that there are projects that were started under the present administration while some were started as far back as two to three administrations ago.
“Ako, I just want to do a lot. I don’t like to dwell on which credit it goes because I think it’s counterproductive at this point,” the DPWH secretary said.
“Sa akin naman, let’s talk about what we’re going to finish. If you don’t want to give me credit for it, okay lang. I just want to show you what we will accomplish in the next few years,” he added. /gsg