Over 6M jobs generated thru ‘Build, Build, Build’: DPWH

MANILA – The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has provided over 6 million jobs to Filipinos through the government’s ‘Build, Build, Build’ (BBB) projects in the last four years.

“While these projects are being conducted, (these) generate jobs. From 2016 to 2020, we have created 6.5 million jobs,” DPWH Secretary Mark Villar said in a press briefing on the progress update of the BBB program in Makati City on Friday.

He added that the jobs offered are for engineers, construction workers, among others.

Villar said for this year, they are looking to provide employment opportunities to over one million workers.

“Our target for 2021 is 1.6 million jobs,“ he added.

Under the BBB program, the government is set to construct roads, bridges, airports, railways among others, with a total budget of PHP8 trillion.

Meanwhile, Villar assured that the remaining civil works are being fast-tracked to open the new and modernized Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge by next month.

“We are here on-site to show you that all substructure and superstructure of the Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge have been constructed and we are confident that we will be able to finish remaining works on the approach road and ancillary/miscellaneous works by July 2021,” he said.

Villar together with Presidential Adviser for Flagship Programs and Projects Secretary Vince Dizon, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, and DPWH Undersecretary for Unified Project Management Office (UPMO) Operations Emil Sadain inspected the substantially completed bridge project across Pasig River linking Estrella Street in Makati City and Barangka Drive in Mandaluyong City is now 93 percent complete.

When completed, the new bridge widened from two lanes to four lanes is expected to accommodate up to 50,000 cars daily, improving the traffic situation in the area and decongesting the Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (Edsa).

The bridge-modernization project is implemented by the DPWH-UPMO Roads Management Cluster 1 (Bilateral) and is funded under a Chinese grant together with Binondo-Intramuros Bridge.