“It’s all systems go”  for projects under President Rodrigo Duterte’s “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program, Public Works Secretary Mark Villar said Friday after quarantines nationwide have been largely eased this month.

“Sa ating mga kababayan, wag po kayong mag-alala, all systems go po ang Build, Build, Build program. Ide-deliver po natin ang mga proyekto (To our countrymen, don’t worry, it’s all systems go for the Build, Build, Build program. We will deliver the projects.),” Villar said.

Villar said the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) only encountered minor setbacks in big-ticket projects during the three-month strict lockdown in Metro Manila and other parts of Luzon, where major construction work has been ongoing.

“Sa tingin ko naman sa ating mga big-ticket projects makakahabol pa rin kami sa deadline (For our big ticket projects, I think we can still catch up with the deadlines.),” said Villar.

“Hindi magiging malaki ang delay natin, halimbawa sa ibang projects kahit hindi sila nakapagtrabaho masyado nung ECQ (enhanced community quarantine), eh dahil hindi po masyado ma-traffic, nakapag doubletime sila sa trabaho 24/7  (We won’t have a big delay because for projects that we weren’t able to work much on due to the ECQ, we were able to enforce 24/7 construction since traffic is not yet that heavy.),” Villar said.

Public construction works were allowed to partially resume  in May as the government banked on the P8-trillion infrastructure push to reset the economy./Stacy Ang