Arangkada PH Forum 2021: Pathways to Modern Infrastructure

By Nathan Salenga

Last December 7, 2021, I attended the talk of Hon. Jonathan Uy, OIC-Undersecretary for the Investment Programming Group of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), during the Arangkada Philippines Forum 2021.

Jonathan’s presentation focused on the current situation of our country’s infrastructure sector, the status of the government’s Build, Build, Build Program, and the importance of developing sustainable infrastructure. He also touched on current national initiatives, emerging priorities, and pathways to modernize Philippine infrastructure — an initiative that will support a greater dispersal of economic equality among different areas of the Philippines that are affected by the current pandemic.

He then emphasized the importance of the adoption of a national transport policy; streamlining of implementing rules and regulations and regulatory procedures of energy projects; formulation of a framework for the use of energies; and lowering electricity costs. He also cited that social infrastructure must be improved, particularly the public schools of the future or digital transformation of the education sector, health facility development, and strengthening of the ICT broadband infrastructure.

He noted that the pandemic has delayed a lot of projects due to interruption in importation of materials, delays in project preparation and implementation due to disruption of work, availability of physical space for the infrastructure program, increase in costs, the chronic problem of the right of way, and regulatory issues on environment.

He pointed out that they are now planning to increase infrastructure spending as a percentage of GDP. Compared to that of pre-pandemic, disbursement percentage per GDP was not achieved in the years 2020 and 2021. By 2022, they are looking at 5.8% disbursement per GDP for the public sector.

Jonathan also shared insights on the infrastructure program of the government. To date, six have already been completed, 79 are ongoing, and 27 are in the pipeline. He shared that they are hoping that these projects will continue beyond this administration’s term — 18 will be completed by June 2022 and 94 will spillover to the next administration.

“Why does building sustainable infrastructure matter?” According to Jonathan, building sustainable infrastructure is crucial for economic recovery emerging from the current pandemic, as well as straightening resiliency to future ones. They are taking a closer look at proper infrastructure planning, moving forward from a traditional level of service analysis to a more people-centered perspective.

Additional to the local context of infrastructure planning, NEDA, together with the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), are also involved in what’s called the ASEAN Smart City Network, which is largely led by three major cities in the Philippines — Manila, Cebu, and Davao.

Manila — the Command Center is undergoing a rehabilitation and transformation to a cloud-based system. E-education is currently being developed to enable students to practice, study, and review lessons with teachers’ supervision. E-health is also being developed in order to come up with a system to integrate records, a hospital-patient management system, as well as operating room supervision.

Cebu — is looking into an automated citywide traffic control system to enhance traffic regulation. Meanwhile, the development of a Bus Rapid Transit System aims to operate an efficient intra-city mass transportation.

Davao — they are aiming to develop technological solutions that will enable efficient inter-agency collaboration for improved public safety and intelligent transport and traffic system with security.

Jonathan also discussed initiatives and opportunities for transportation, water resources, energy, and digital infrastructure.

For transportation, they aim to promote non-motorized and active transportation; develop an efficient and resilient national supply chain network system; ensure critical infrastructure are climate and pandemic resilient; ensure the upkeep of existing infrastructure, while expanding the network; and ensure the universal accessibility of transport facilities.

Meanwhile, Jonathan noted that the reliability and safety of water supply is one of the pressing concerns of NEDA. Because of this, they launched the Philippine Water Supply and Sanitation Master Plan (PWSSMP) in September 2021, which will serve as the national action plan to achieve universal access to safe, sufficient, affordable and sustainable water supply, hygiene, and sanitation by 2030. The total budget required to achieve this is estimated at Php1.07 trillion over 11 years. They also plan to integrate all water agencies into a single department to regulate and maintain sustainability of all resources. They also want to pursue water supply and sanitation (WSS) policies, plans, and programs in accordance with key reform agenda identified in the PWSSMP; pursue initiatives for water security; adopt a unified framework for resource allocation for WWS; and review the National Sewerage and Septage Management to accelerate the provision of WSS services, optimize funds for irrigation development, and intensify coordination of flood management efforts among various sectors.

For energy, they plan to expedite the implementation of remaining policy mechanisms under the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (RA 9513) to further encourage renewable energy development; develop transmission and distribution facilities and projects that will transmit electricity efficiently to various load centers and interconnect the entire grid; ensure timely implementation of electrification programs, particularly for remaining unelectrified off-grid islands; promote utilization of alternative fuel and new advanced energy technologies; implement the Energy Efficiency and Conservation (EE&C) Act (RA 11285) and Energy Efficiency and Conservation Roadmap; pursue the development of the natural gas industry; and adopt an energy resiliency policy.

To accelerate digital infrastructure, they plan to fast track the government’s digital connectivity program. Some initiatives are the National Broadband Program, Free WIFI in Public Places Program, and the ICTI policy reform to support the digital connectivity agenda (open-access policy, streamlining and harmonizing of broadband-related permits, and infrastructure sharing).

The emerging priorities of the government can be summarized into four points — smart infrastructure, innovation, emphasis of region equity and access to economic opportunities to better infrastructure, and resiliency.

Lastly, he discussed the government’s pathways to modern infrastructure, one of which is to encourage government agencies to expand data analytics capability with regard to development and implementation of projects towards sustainability and resiliency. Other pathways are: mainstream sustainability and resiliency principles for long-term infrastructure planning and project development; enable domestic condition to attract investment for clean energy and smart city initiatives; enable technological and industrial innovation; increase investment in education research and development; increase foreign direct investment; and lower carbon and environmental footprints to make sure our children and their children will benefit from better environment.

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About the author:

Nathan has been in recruitment for more than 10 years, spanning various industries and levels. His interests include playing drums, basketball, and going to the gym. Nathan loves traveling to other countries for the culture and the food. In his free time, he watches documentaries and reality series on National Geographic, the History Channel, Discovery Channel. He also watches Netflix and vloggers on YouTube for travel tips and reaction videos.