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Duterte gov't to boost infra spending amid COVID-19 pandemic

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ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA - The government wants to ramp up spending for its flagship infrastructure program in 2022 even amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. </p><p>In his budget message, President Rodrigo Duterte said that the 2022 national budget aims to boost economic growth through continuing investments in public infrastructure.</p><p>&quot;In fact, our infrastructure program for next year is expected to increase to P1.18 trillion, equivalent to 5.3 percent of our GDP,” he said. </p><p>The funds shall be alloted for the the major programs of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and Department of Transportation (DOTr), such as the network development program (P128.1 billion), flood management program (P113.5 billion), rail transport (P110.9 billion), and land public transportation program (P13.9 billion). </p><p>Duterte said he directed the infrastructure agencies to make sure that projects under the &quot;Build, Build, Build&quot; program take into account public health and safety measures.</p><p>“These include, among others, issues of congestion, mobility, and inadequate safety protoicols that, if addressed properly, will slow the spread of COVID-19 and similar crises in the future,” Duterte said.</p><p>The Department of Budget and Management submitted the 2022 National Expenditure Program to the House of Representatives on Monday.</p><p>Lawmakers will start tackling it on Thursday.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/07/26/21/duterte-sona-2021-duterte-infra-projects">Duterte boasts of completed infra projects in last SONA</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/07/01/21/skyway-noynoy-aquino-term-dpwh">Skyway began under Aquino admin&#x27;s PPP, netizens remind DPWH chief</a></li></ul><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1736028" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

The government wants to ramp up spending for its flagship infrastructure program in 2022 even amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 