Tugade to Investors: Safety, Transparency, No Corruption—Pillars of Dutertenomics

Wazzup Pilipinas!

As the Philippines ushers in the Golden Age of Infrastructure, Department of Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade encouraged investors to do business in the country and assured them of a level playing field without corruption.

In a joint press briefing held before the opening plenary of the World Economic Forum held in Cambodia, economic managers and infrastructure agencies presented the grand infrastructure plan of the Duterte administration called BuildBuildBuild as part of DuterteNomics—the government’s economic agenda. Secretary Tugade said that the aggressive infrastructure push will be supplemented with transparency and accountability.

“Come to the Philippines, we’ll take care of your investments. We create a scenario wherein you get a fair return on your investment because we have a safe, secure, transparent and accountable government, and principally, no corruption. We will give you a level playing field,” Tugade said.

Tugade said the government will make full use of technology to eradicate corruption especially during the bidding process, which he said is already being aired live on social media. He also shared that big-ticket projects under the Build Build Build program may be monitored via a transparency portal (www.build.gov.ph), a real-time tool where progress of projects can be tracked.

He added that investors can count on President Duterte to be uncompromising when it comes to corruption.

“The president will not allow corruption in any form, in any shape. President Duterte will be uncompromising when it comes to corruption,” Tugade said. “That is what the President is impressing in every one of us. So that the businessmen will be assured of a level playing field and a safe and secure place of business.”

The Duterte administration seeks to increase public spending on infrastructure to 5.4% of the Gross Domestic Product in 2017, the highest in more than two decades. The move is consistent with President Rodrigo Duterte’s socioeconomic agenda, which aims to reduce poverty from 26.3% in 2015 to 17% by 2022.

Among the high-impact projects presented by the DOTr are new railway networks including the country’s first subway system, development of new and existing airports, maritime developments including the country’s first barge terminal, and other efficient mass transportation systems.