Economic cluster on track to meet Aquino’s directive to improve economy
President Benigno S. Aquino III’s directive to improve economic conditions in the country remains on track and will be achieved, the chair of the Chief Executive’s Cabinet cluster on the economy said Wednesday.
In an interview over state-run radio station dzRB this morning, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima who is also chair of the economic cluster of President Aquino’s Cabinet said his team has been working towards turning around the economic state of the country since the President took over the reigns of governance last year.
“Alam po ninyo, simple lang ang utos ng Pangulo sa economic cluster: pabilisin ang takbo ng ekonomiya, pabilisin ang takbo ng ekonomiya para mas maraming trabaho ang magagawa at matululungan ang mga kababayan natin,” Purisima said.
He said the economic cluster has been concentrating its efforts on four “pillars” it has identified as critical areas to effect change in the economy.
These are: improving tax collection by going after smugglers and tax evaders; boosting infrastructure spending with the help of the private sector through the government’s Public-Private Partnership Program; cutting red tape to simplify putting up a business in the country; and investing in our people through the Conditional Cash Transfer Program.
“Imporante po ito para mapalakas itong ekonomiya natin, at pag take off ng economy natin, sila po ay magiging productive participants, makakahanap sila ng trabaho at magkakaroon sila ng hanapbuhay,” Purisima said. (PCOO)
Aquino government to save over a hundred million pesos on the C3-Quezon Avenue Interchange project
In efforts to ease the flow of traffic along the Quezon Avenue and Araneta Avenue junction in Quezon City, the government has started the construction of a 4-lane underpass that will save over a hundred million pesos in public funds.
In a press briefing at the Palace on Wednesday, Public Works and Highways Secretary Rogelio Singson said that instead of building a flyover in the area that will cost up to a billion pesos, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) resorted to construct an underpass costing way below the previous project plan.
Singson said that based on their studies, the government will be saving an estimated P116 million on the C3-Quezon Avenue Interchange project adding that it would also ease traffic in the area.
“Study shows that if we do a flyover, it will cost the government a little over one billion pesos, we decided to do the underpass and the original budget was over 500 million pesos but when we bidded it out we ended it up below a little over 400 million and we were able to save about P116 million in that single project,” Singson said.
He added that prior to pursuing the project, several studies have been done to formulate effective ways to solve the perennial problem in the said area.
“The decision to do an underpass is based on a study done by consultants as well as the DPWH looking at six different alternatives including a flyover on Quezon Avenue, flyover on Araneta Avenue… the intention is to separate the traffic coming from Araneta and Quezon Avenue,” Singson said.
Several infrastructure developments, including mass transport system and an expressway, were also considered in the construction of the underpass.
“What are the plans in that junction… first there is a planned LRT line on Quezon Avenue, second, there is a potential C3 expressway that will connect and complete the C3 all the way to Makati,” Singson noted.
“We did not want to impair those possible integration with other mass transport systems, so we decided to do the underpass,” he said.
The DPWH will also be increasing the capacity of all the drainage system around the particular junction to solve the flood problem in the area.
A huge cistern will also be provided underneath the underpass, on both sides of its lowest or depressed area.
The flood control system also includes the putting up of a water tunnel or a huge cistern which will be connected to a pumping system with three pumps designed to make sure that all the excess water will be pumped out.
“We’re confident that we will be able to address the flooding like we have done in the underpasses in Edsa-Quezon Avenue, and Makati that were all flood free,” Singson explained.
Concerned government agencies have mapped out alternative routes for motorists in anticipation of the heavy traffic in the area.
The 430-million worth project, Singson said, has been approved by the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Council through a resolution issued in November of last year.
The four-lane C3-Quezon Avenue Interchange project will be completed in 15 months. (PCOO)
DPWH bares five-year development plan that could be included in President’s SONA
The Department of Public Works and Highway (DPWH) reported its four major areas of concentration in the next five years that could be included in the President’s State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) slated on July 25.
Public Works and Highway Secretary Rogelio Singson said in a press briefing in Malacanang on Wednesday that they have submitted their plan until 2016 which he said will focus on the following: bureaucratic transformation and anti-corruption, upgrade of the quality and integrity of the country’s roads and bridges, convergence program with other agencies and public-private partnership (PPP).
Singson said DPWH’s transformation and anti-corruption programs are the top priority of his department. To fight corruption, Singson said, the department focuses on transparency in all of its projects adding that the DPWH has established a website so that non-government organizations (NGOs) and the public can view the project details.
“We just established a 24/7 call center so that anybody can call and inquire about projects. In terms of the bidding process, we’re making sure that all our projects are bidded competitively and with full transparency. We even simplify our processes and submission of documents,” he stressed, adding that as a result of this reform measures, as of end of May, DPWH saved P2.5 billion.
According to Singson, the other area of concentration is the upgrade of the quality and integrity of national roads and bridges, saying that they’ve just upgraded their target. They hope to complete 31,000 kilometers of national roads by 2016, he said.
The primary or the arterial roads should be completed and paved by 2014, he said, and all the rest of the secondary roads completely paved and upgraded by 2016.
He noted that rehabilitating the country’s bridges will take a longer time to complete because most of these are temporary structures. The DPWH targets to improve all of the national bridges by 2016.
The DPWH is also embarking on a major convergence program with other agencies, Singson particularly on the flood-control programs.
Currently, the DPWH is coordinating with the Department of Agriculture (DA), National Irrigation Administration (NIA), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Tourism (DOT), and Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) for its convergence program.
The fourth area of concentration of the DPWH is the PPP, but Singson clarified that its PPP program is just an augmentation.
“If you will look in terms of orders of magnitude, our proposed budget until 2016 is over P800 billion. The PPP project is P250 billion. So it’s really an augmentation to just be able to increase more infrastructures in the country,” he said. (PCOO)
Singson says DPWH is preparing a master plan for Davao City flood control project
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is now working with the city government of Davao in preparing a master plan for its flood control project.
In a press briefing at the Malacanang briefing room on Wednesday, Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson said the master plan will help Davao City solve its problem on flash floods adding that this will also avoid the occurrence of similar flash floods that killed 27 individuals after the Matina River overflowed due to heavy downpour last week.
Singson said that one of the possible doable solutions that the DPWH wants to implement along the Matina River is to widen the downstream “so that the flow of the water from Matina to Pangi Bridges will be a lot faster.”
He also said the DPWH will replace the bailey bridge located at the upstream of the Matina and Pangi Rivers that was washed out during the height of the flash flood.
“Fortunately, Mayor Duterte said that the bidding, the procurement process is already ongoing. We said, we will help them out in preparing a master plan for flood control for Davao City. We are working that out with her with some immediate doable projects in the very near future including widening as well as straightening some of these bending river systems,” Singson said. (PCOO)
DPWH plans to implement rainwater collection system to address flood problem nationwide
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is proposing to implement the rainwater collection system to help address the perenial problem of flooding nationwide.
“We suggest that we already implement the rainwater collection system. So, what we are proposing is for the public to have retention basins. Imbakin niyo at huwag nyong ideretso sa kanal, huwag nyong ideretso sa mga drainage para sa ganun hindi dumagdag doon sa possible cause of flooding,” Public Works and Highways Secretary Rogelio Singson said during a press briefing in Malacanang on Wednesday.
Singson, however, emphasized the need for the people to cooperate to ensure the success of the rainwater collection system.
“Iyang pagbabaha, we can only do so much in terms of engineering intervention. A lot of it will require discipline in terms of pagbabasura, in terms of maintaining our drainage,” he said.
Apart from the proposed rainwater collections system, Singson said the DPWH is now working double time in cleaning-up the drainage and waterways.
“Definitely, at the early stage nung pagpasok namin we had an agreement with Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman Francis Tolentino. DPWH took care of cleaning the main drainage,” Singson said, adding that 50% of the drainage is silted, “ Iyong iba nakita namin mas konti pa, 70% is silted, halos hindi na namin malinis dahil nag-solidify na iyong silt doon sa drainage mains,” he added.
Singson said they are looking at major convergence programs to be implemented with other agencies, including the Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and National Irrigation Administration (NIA).
“Let me cite a particular example that we’ve been pushing. The convergence on flood control and river systems, what we’ve always said is that it is useless for DPWH to just continue working on flood control downstream if there’s nothing being done upstream. And upstream could mean watershed, reforestation, impounding of that water so that it does not come down to cause a lot of flooding,” he said.
“By impounding that water upstream, we can use it for irrigation, for mini hydro, for domestic water. We have this program with the DA, NIA and DENR for this convergence program,” said. (PCOO)
President Benigno S. Aquino III’s directive to improve economic conditions in the country remains on track and will be achieved, the chair of the Chief Executive’s Cabinet cluster on the economy said Wednesday.
In an interview over state-run radio station dzRB this morning, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima who is also chair of the economic cluster of President Aquino’s Cabinet said his team has been working towards turning around the economic state of the country since the President took over the reigns of governance last year.
“Alam po ninyo, simple lang ang utos ng Pangulo sa economic cluster: pabilisin ang takbo ng ekonomiya, pabilisin ang takbo ng ekonomiya para mas maraming trabaho ang magagawa at matululungan ang mga kababayan natin,” Purisima said.
He said the economic cluster has been concentrating its efforts on four “pillars” it has identified as critical areas to effect change in the economy.
These are: improving tax collection by going after smugglers and tax evaders; boosting infrastructure spending with the help of the private sector through the government’s Public-Private Partnership Program; cutting red tape to simplify putting up a business in the country; and investing in our people through the Conditional Cash Transfer Program.
“Imporante po ito para mapalakas itong ekonomiya natin, at pag take off ng economy natin, sila po ay magiging productive participants, makakahanap sila ng trabaho at magkakaroon sila ng hanapbuhay,” Purisima said. (PCOO)
Aquino government to save over a hundred million pesos on the C3-Quezon Avenue Interchange project
In efforts to ease the flow of traffic along the Quezon Avenue and Araneta Avenue junction in Quezon City, the government has started the construction of a 4-lane underpass that will save over a hundred million pesos in public funds.
In a press briefing at the Palace on Wednesday, Public Works and Highways Secretary Rogelio Singson said that instead of building a flyover in the area that will cost up to a billion pesos, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) resorted to construct an underpass costing way below the previous project plan.
Singson said that based on their studies, the government will be saving an estimated P116 million on the C3-Quezon Avenue Interchange project adding that it would also ease traffic in the area.
“Study shows that if we do a flyover, it will cost the government a little over one billion pesos, we decided to do the underpass and the original budget was over 500 million pesos but when we bidded it out we ended it up below a little over 400 million and we were able to save about P116 million in that single project,” Singson said.
He added that prior to pursuing the project, several studies have been done to formulate effective ways to solve the perennial problem in the said area.
“The decision to do an underpass is based on a study done by consultants as well as the DPWH looking at six different alternatives including a flyover on Quezon Avenue, flyover on Araneta Avenue… the intention is to separate the traffic coming from Araneta and Quezon Avenue,” Singson said.
Several infrastructure developments, including mass transport system and an expressway, were also considered in the construction of the underpass.
“What are the plans in that junction… first there is a planned LRT line on Quezon Avenue, second, there is a potential C3 expressway that will connect and complete the C3 all the way to Makati,” Singson noted.
“We did not want to impair those possible integration with other mass transport systems, so we decided to do the underpass,” he said.
The DPWH will also be increasing the capacity of all the drainage system around the particular junction to solve the flood problem in the area.
A huge cistern will also be provided underneath the underpass, on both sides of its lowest or depressed area.
The flood control system also includes the putting up of a water tunnel or a huge cistern which will be connected to a pumping system with three pumps designed to make sure that all the excess water will be pumped out.
“We’re confident that we will be able to address the flooding like we have done in the underpasses in Edsa-Quezon Avenue, and Makati that were all flood free,” Singson explained.
Concerned government agencies have mapped out alternative routes for motorists in anticipation of the heavy traffic in the area.
The 430-million worth project, Singson said, has been approved by the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Council through a resolution issued in November of last year.
The four-lane C3-Quezon Avenue Interchange project will be completed in 15 months. (PCOO)
DPWH bares five-year development plan that could be included in President’s SONA
The Department of Public Works and Highway (DPWH) reported its four major areas of concentration in the next five years that could be included in the President’s State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) slated on July 25.
Public Works and Highway Secretary Rogelio Singson said in a press briefing in Malacanang on Wednesday that they have submitted their plan until 2016 which he said will focus on the following: bureaucratic transformation and anti-corruption, upgrade of the quality and integrity of the country’s roads and bridges, convergence program with other agencies and public-private partnership (PPP).
Singson said DPWH’s transformation and anti-corruption programs are the top priority of his department. To fight corruption, Singson said, the department focuses on transparency in all of its projects adding that the DPWH has established a website so that non-government organizations (NGOs) and the public can view the project details.
“We just established a 24/7 call center so that anybody can call and inquire about projects. In terms of the bidding process, we’re making sure that all our projects are bidded competitively and with full transparency. We even simplify our processes and submission of documents,” he stressed, adding that as a result of this reform measures, as of end of May, DPWH saved P2.5 billion.
According to Singson, the other area of concentration is the upgrade of the quality and integrity of national roads and bridges, saying that they’ve just upgraded their target. They hope to complete 31,000 kilometers of national roads by 2016, he said.
The primary or the arterial roads should be completed and paved by 2014, he said, and all the rest of the secondary roads completely paved and upgraded by 2016.
He noted that rehabilitating the country’s bridges will take a longer time to complete because most of these are temporary structures. The DPWH targets to improve all of the national bridges by 2016.
The DPWH is also embarking on a major convergence program with other agencies, Singson particularly on the flood-control programs.
Currently, the DPWH is coordinating with the Department of Agriculture (DA), National Irrigation Administration (NIA), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Tourism (DOT), and Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) for its convergence program.
The fourth area of concentration of the DPWH is the PPP, but Singson clarified that its PPP program is just an augmentation.
“If you will look in terms of orders of magnitude, our proposed budget until 2016 is over P800 billion. The PPP project is P250 billion. So it’s really an augmentation to just be able to increase more infrastructures in the country,” he said. (PCOO)
Singson says DPWH is preparing a master plan for Davao City flood control project
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is now working with the city government of Davao in preparing a master plan for its flood control project.
In a press briefing at the Malacanang briefing room on Wednesday, Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson said the master plan will help Davao City solve its problem on flash floods adding that this will also avoid the occurrence of similar flash floods that killed 27 individuals after the Matina River overflowed due to heavy downpour last week.
Singson said that one of the possible doable solutions that the DPWH wants to implement along the Matina River is to widen the downstream “so that the flow of the water from Matina to Pangi Bridges will be a lot faster.”
He also said the DPWH will replace the bailey bridge located at the upstream of the Matina and Pangi Rivers that was washed out during the height of the flash flood.
“Fortunately, Mayor Duterte said that the bidding, the procurement process is already ongoing. We said, we will help them out in preparing a master plan for flood control for Davao City. We are working that out with her with some immediate doable projects in the very near future including widening as well as straightening some of these bending river systems,” Singson said. (PCOO)
DPWH plans to implement rainwater collection system to address flood problem nationwide
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is proposing to implement the rainwater collection system to help address the perenial problem of flooding nationwide.
“We suggest that we already implement the rainwater collection system. So, what we are proposing is for the public to have retention basins. Imbakin niyo at huwag nyong ideretso sa kanal, huwag nyong ideretso sa mga drainage para sa ganun hindi dumagdag doon sa possible cause of flooding,” Public Works and Highways Secretary Rogelio Singson said during a press briefing in Malacanang on Wednesday.
Singson, however, emphasized the need for the people to cooperate to ensure the success of the rainwater collection system.
“Iyang pagbabaha, we can only do so much in terms of engineering intervention. A lot of it will require discipline in terms of pagbabasura, in terms of maintaining our drainage,” he said.
Apart from the proposed rainwater collections system, Singson said the DPWH is now working double time in cleaning-up the drainage and waterways.
“Definitely, at the early stage nung pagpasok namin we had an agreement with Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman Francis Tolentino. DPWH took care of cleaning the main drainage,” Singson said, adding that 50% of the drainage is silted, “ Iyong iba nakita namin mas konti pa, 70% is silted, halos hindi na namin malinis dahil nag-solidify na iyong silt doon sa drainage mains,” he added.
Singson said they are looking at major convergence programs to be implemented with other agencies, including the Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and National Irrigation Administration (NIA).
“Let me cite a particular example that we’ve been pushing. The convergence on flood control and river systems, what we’ve always said is that it is useless for DPWH to just continue working on flood control downstream if there’s nothing being done upstream. And upstream could mean watershed, reforestation, impounding of that water so that it does not come down to cause a lot of flooding,” he said.
“By impounding that water upstream, we can use it for irrigation, for mini hydro, for domestic water. We have this program with the DA, NIA and DENR for this convergence program,” said. (PCOO)
