Budget dep’t OKs advance bidding for P177B projects

THE budget department has agreed to bid out in advance some P177 billion worth of big-ticket projects earmarked for 2009 even as Congress has yet to formally ratify the P1.4-trillion proposed national budget for next year.

Sen. Edgardo Angara, chairman of the Senate finance committee which resumes budget floor debates today, said he has secured the commitment of the budget department to bid out and frontload the projects early to avoid delays.

He said the move would cut down the time lag between the bidding process and the actual initiation of the project.

"This means we can start building those projects now when we need them, not six months into 2009," he said.

Government projects are implemented only during the second and third quarters because of delays in the passage of the budget and the drawn-out bidding process.

Angara said the early bidding process and implementation of the infrastructure projects early in 2009 like roads, school buildings and bridges would jumpstart the economy through the creation of more jobs.

"We prepare for the long-term health of the economy, especially that of the countryside, leading to the opportunities for employment," he said.

He said the early bidding would also have an impact in the short term because this "offers a ready cushion for the crisis for our citizens by engaging in infrastructure spending."

"Both science and experience tell us that infrastructure spending is the best way to create jobs and stimulate consumption, especially in the rural areas where we need it the most," he said. "Public works puts money in the pockets of our citizens. This will provide us with a safety net for our people."

Angara said of the P177 billion earmarked for infrastructure spending under the 2009 budget, some 30 percent or P54 billion would be spent for direct labor.

He said this means some 540,000 new jobs next year based on the premise that for every P100,000 spent, one new job is created.

Angara said another P5.3 billion would be spent to create 607,000 new jobs in the housing sector.

He said the fresh jobs to be created would also replace the jobs that would be lost by returning Filipino workers who have lost jobs abroad because of the economic crisis.

Estimates show some 590,000 of the 5.1 million Filipinos working abroad will be out of jobs as the worldwide financial crisis wreaks havoc on the global economy in 2009. – Dennis Gadil