Admin allots additional P4.5 billion for road rehab, construction

MANILA, Philippines - The Aquino administration is infusing an additional P4.5 billion this December for the construction and rehabilitation of national roads and the installation of road safety devices across the country.

The move is aimed at improving the government’s agenda of boosting the economy through infrastructure investments.

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said there would be more projects in the remaining days of the month.

“These infrastructure projects sustain the ongoing economic development efforts of the Aquino administration to bring direct, immediate, and substantial benefits to Filipinos by improving public access to schools, hospitals, tourism spots, and market centers,” Abad said.

The Budget chief said infrastructure projects would continue through 2016, the end of the term of President Aquino.

Abad said that through the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the government has programmed to pave all national roads by 2014 and all secondary roads by 2016.

The DBM said that “the P4.515-billion fund released to the DPWH for the upgrade of national infrastructure projects is funded by the Motor Vehicle Users’ Charge.”

Of the total amount, the DBM would be spending P4.13 billion for the preventive maintenance of 1,202.85 kilometers’ worth of national roads under more than 516 government projects.

“The fund release will not only improve national roads but also spur economic activities in local communities,” Abad said.

The P385 million will be used for the installation, application, and construction of road safety devices along 578.5 kilometers of national roads nationwide.