‘Build, Build, Build’ program pays out P17B in salaries

CAPAS, TARLAC — The “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program is creating “a lot of new jobs” and has already paid out P17 billion in salaries in the construction industry since January, according to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III.

The government, he said, spent P281 billion on infrastructure projects in the first five months of the year, 42 percent more than what it spent in the same period last year.

“This is fueling additional income for construction workers, for people who are selling construction materials and, of course, this is creating a lot of new jobs,” said Dominguez, who inspected the New Clark City project here along with other Cabinet members on Wednesday.

Injection into economy

“If you figure P281 billion in infrastructure every month [from January to May], we [have spent] about P56 billion. If 30 percent of that is [in] salaries… our injection into the economy is about P17 billion a month,” he said.

The expenditures are on top of private sector-led construction and public sector projects financed through the public-private partnership (PPP).

100,000 new jobs

Dominguez said about 100,000 new jobs were created in the first five months of this year in the construction sector alone.

The PPP program is a package of major infrastructure projects that have strategic impact on the economy, he said, adding that the government plans to spend between P8 and P9 trillion over the medium term.

He said this investment would have a “tremendous impact on the country’s investment growth and job generation, stimulating economic expansion to realize a 7-percent gross domestic product growth rate per year.” —GABRIEL CARDINOZA