The Philippines' Economy
Build, Build, Build
How the Duterte government's infrastructure programme from 2016 aimed to fix the Philippines' chronic infrastructure gap, and what it achieved.
The Philippines long had an infrastructure gap.
The problem
- Manila traffic is among the world’s worst.
- Airports and ports congested.
- Public investment was low for decades.
Build, Build, Build
President Rodrigo Duterte (2016-2022) launched “Build, Build, Build”, raising infrastructure spending to around 5 percent of GDP.
Projects
- Roads, bridges and airports.
- Metro Manila Subway, the first underground railway, under construction with Japanese financing.
- North-South Commuter Railway.
Results
- Infrastructure spending rose substantially.
- Many flagship projects were delayed.
- Financing shifted from PPPs to official development assistance from Japan and others, and some Chinese-funded projects stalled.
Continuation
President Marcos Jr. continued with “Build Better More”.
Lesson
Raising spending is easier than executing projects on time.
The two-hour commute
A Manila office worker spends up to two hours each way in traffic, a daily cost the subway project aims to cut.
Thinking announcing projects means building them
Many flagship projects were delayed.
Key takeaways
- The Philippines had a long infrastructure gap.
- Build, Build, Build raised spending to about 5 percent of GDP.
- Many projects, like the Manila subway, faced delays.
- Execution is harder than announcing spending.
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