Bong Revilla wants gov’t to speed up public works as GCQ in NCR looms

MANILA, Philippines—Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. urged the national government to speed up the resumption of public works to kick start the local economy.

Revilla issued the statement after the Metro Manila mayors recommended on Tuesday to place the capital region under general community quarantine on June 1 after more than three months of being under ECQ wherein public work was temporarily suspended.

Revilla said resuming public works would give the idle economy a push after the country was put into lockdown, especially with the government originally planning to allocate nearly a trillion pesos for various infrastructure projects.

He added that it’s only the national government that has the capability to spend money for public works after local government units, Revilla said, utilized their 20 percent local development fund in response to COVID-19.

“Ang national government na lang ang may kakayahan magpatupad ng public works (Only the national government has the capacity to fund public works). The infusion of capital and jobs to be generated by these projects will be a much-needed boost to the economy. It will start the gears moving, so to speak,” said Revilla.

“Kaya kailangan na talagang apurahin ng gobyerno para ibangon ang nakapako nating ekonomiya (We have to urge the government to kickstart the economy.)”

Revilla also pointed out that it’s been two weeks since Inter-Agency Task Force of Emerging Infectious Diseases has released Resolution No. 34 that provides Construction Safety Guidelines for the Implementation of Infrastructure Projects during the pandemic.

“There is no perfect time to resume public works but now. As we embrace the so-called ‘New Normal’ way of life, we need to get back on track with due haste to avoid undue delays,” said Revilla.