Last 28 October 2021, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) released a list of candidates for the National and Local Elections on 9 May 2022. A total of 97 individuals formally notified the commission and filed for candidacy to run for president. The list includes Senator Panfilo Lacson, Former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Romualdez Marcos Jr., Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko” Moreno Domagoso, Senator Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao, Vice President Maria Leonor "Leni" Gerona Robredo, Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa, Former secretary of National Defense Norberto Gonzales, and more.
Although the election will take place next year on 9 May 2022, some presidential candidates have already expressed their plans for infrastructure and other strategies for nation-building. Some candidates have specific plans, while others gave their general thoughts and ideas on the subject matter. At this point, here are some of the initial statements of candidates.
Regarding infrastructure, Manila Mayor, Isko Moreno initiated various housing projects like Basecommunity, Tondominium, Binondominium, Pedro Gil Residences, and San Sebastian Residences. A few days before Manila celebrated its 450th year anniversary last June, Moreno announced the completion of the Manila COVID-19 Field Hospital. A new hospital, “Bagong Ospital ng Maynila” is scheduled to be operational by December. Still under construction are President Corazon Aquino General Hospital, new buildings for Manila Science High School, Rosauro Almario Elementary School, and Dr. Carlos Albert High School.
Recently, Moreno shared his plans to address climate change. “Should I be elected President next year, it will be my goal to develop and implement a comprehensive clean energy infrastructure program and to begin that transition during my term. As businesses and industries recover from the pandemic, we will need to move towards more sustainable long-term energy sources that can better serve our people for generations: solar, hydro, geothermal and more.”
“I would like for us to produce more energy from clean sources than from coal or oil, for example. That is why my proposed tax cuts on those products are short-term, designed to give immediate relief to consumers and businesses facing financial pressures resulting from the pandemic. Eventually we will want to develop incentives to drive a national clean energy push forward.”
“While my focus now and immediately upon taking office will be to bring our country out of the worst public health and economic crisis of our lifetimes, I am keenly aware we must think long term, holistically and strategically. If we do that well, we will lay the foundation for a more environmentally sustainable Philippines.”
Recently, the City of Manila has also been named as one of the 50 finalist Champion Cities for the Bloomberg Philanthropies 2021 Global Mayors Challenge.
During Moreno’s recent visit to Cebu City, he promised to have mega infrastructures for the Visayas if he will be the next president in 2022. During his tour of the province, he saw the necessity to put up bridges that will connect the main islands in the Visayas, including Cebu, Bohol, Negros, Panay, Leyte and Samar. He explained that 35% of the international tourists are in Cebu, thus the island province should be given more infrastructures and bridges which would connect to other areas in the Visayas. [1]
Meanwhile, Senator Lacson talked about his pledge to develop smaller, neglected localities under his presidency. From a Manila Bulletin article last October, he assured Filipinos that public funds will be spent to the development of remote villages and municipalities of the Philippines should he win in the 2022 election. He said this would be part of his advocacy of reforming the national budget process. Lacson noted that the budget ceilings on how taxes are spent are being imposed by the Development Budget Coordinating Committee (DBCC) and often the smaller communities are neglected when they submit the National Expenditure Program (NEP) to Congress. He said that this results in the wastage of public funds due to underspending which he said could reach over Php400 billion. His proposed solution is to adopt a zero-based budgeting system to give government agencies some flexibility when it comes to spending taxpayers' money. Lacson clarified though that this method of financial planning still requires the justification of expenses for each new fiscal period. He pointed out that the same process is applied by the leaders of most successful private corporations. [2]
The People’s Champ and aspiring president Senator Pacquiao talked about building a “mega prison” for government officials who would be jailed for corruption. He mentioned this when he visited Mayor Edwin Olivarez of Parañanque City last November 5. [3]
“I will build an ‘MP’ or mega prison since there are a lot of corrupt officials and they might not all fit inside an ordinary jail.” Pacquiao also wanted to have “special courts” that would directly handle graft and corruption cases. Pacquaio’s popular sports insignia based on his name’s initials, “MP”, will take on a different meaning and purpose if his mega prison idea takes flight. Although a mega prison only covers one aspect of infrastructure plans, Pacquiao’s statement for this particular day covers the topic of solving the issue of graft and corruption in the country. Perhaps he will give more infrastructure plans in his future public statements. Pacquiao has been known for being enterprising and innovative when it comes to project development in his hometown.
Vice President Leni Robredo said that if she wins in the 2022 presidential election, she will continue what Duterte's administration started with regards to the Build, Build, Build infrastructure programs, but she will put more emphasis in improving the lives of the poor. During a press briefing in Sorsogon last Oct. 29, she mentioned that her priority programs will mostly focus on the alleviation of poverty in the Philippines.
"We will continue with the Build, Build, Build, but we will make sure that the fund for infrastructure will have a direct impact in the improvement of the quality of life of those who are on the fringes of society."
Her strategy includes specific infrastructure plans for rural development like farm-to-market roads, cold storage facilities and solar dryers for farmers. She believes in simple but effective plans. She also added the further improvement of the mass transport system in the country. [4]
If he becomes the next president, Bongbong Marcos plans to modernise infrastructure in the Philippines to become Asia's next logistic hub. He pointed out that the country needs to upgrade its aging seaports, airports and railways. Marcos also mentioned the importance and need for port automation, computerisation and Artificial Intelligence for a more efficient port system, which will lead to lower shipping costs.
“Our strategic location in the Pacific is an advantage that no other country has. It’s time for us to leverage this and aspire to become a major logistics hub in the region. To achieve this, we will need to modernize our existing seaports, airports, and railways or build new ones where necessary." [5]
Marcos also emphasised the need to develop smart ports that use shared data platforms, machine learning, and AI to plan and manage critical port operations, container stacking, management of vessel and truck, and other logistic aspects in ports.
In future months, we shall hear more from the presidential candidates as they share more of their plans for Philippine infrastructure, economic recovery, addressing climate change, health concerns, defence, and others.
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Reference:
[1] Francisco “Isko” Moreno Domagoso LinkedIn page
Visayas Region plans - https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1511028/isko-moreno-promises-to-build-mega-infrastructures-in-visayas-if-elected
Infrastructure list of Moreno - https://www.rappler.com/nation/elections/isko-moreno-proposes-lgus-use-bigger-tax-share-mandanas-ruling-help-small-businesses
[2] Lacson - https://mb.com.ph/2021/10/11/lacson-pledges-devt-of-smaller-neglected-localities-under-presidency/
[3] Pacquiao - https://www.rappler.com/nation/elections/pacquiao-wants-mega-prison-corrupt-government-officials
[4] Robredo - https://mb.com.ph/2021/10/29/robredo-says-build-build-build-to-carry-on-if-she-succeeds-duterte-but-it-must-also-help-in-poverty-reduction/
[5] Marcos - https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1506774/marcos-jr-vows-to-build-modernize-infrastructure-to-make-ph-asias-next-logistics-hub
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Photo credit: From Wikipedia and social media outlets of each candidates
