Build Build Build: An Infrastructural Renaissance of Marcos’ “Golden Age”
Uncovering how authoritarian state power and architecture unite to build national infrastructures
I. Build, Build, Build (BBB) is the Duterte administration’s centerpiece program to usher the
Philippines into its “Golden Age of Infrastructure.”
A. Under President Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines is experiencing an infrastructure boom
unseen since the time of strongman Ferdinand Marcos.
B. The program intends to bridge the country’s huge infrastructure gap, which has long
been identified as a major factor for the high cost of doing business in the country. The program
aims to encourage investments, facilitate job creation, boost economic growth, and improve the
quality of life in both urban and rural communities. BBB was initially projected to cost around
PhP9 trillion (2016 to 2022) and is expected to account for 7.0 percent of the gross domestic
product (GDP) by 2022
C. With roughly three months towards the end of President Duterte’s administration, 18
out of 112 infrastructure flagship projects under BBB will be completed by June this year, with
12 additional projects to conclude by the end of 2022 while 89 more are scheduled for
implementation by 2023 and to be accomplished in the next six years.
D. UP Architecture Professor Gerard Lico, PhD said that strongmen continue to pursue
grand infrastructure developments as illusive representations of their administration. With
ambitious projects that outlast their authoritative sponsor, the memory of the regime becomes
centered on what is left behind even after the term ends or the president dies.
E. One clear outcome of the BBB implementation will be the rising level of national
indebtedness.
F. A similar BBB program was adopted by President Ferdinand Marcos in the 1970s. Right
after he declared martial law in September 1972, Marcos launched a massive debt-driven
infrastructure development program.
II. Filipinos cannot yet move on from paying the debt Marcos incurred to construct his projects.
- According to expert estimates, it will take the country up to 2025 to fully pay the debt,
almost 40 years after the EDSA People Power Revolution. Marcos and his allies allegedly
overpriced the projects to be able to pocket billions of dollars in kickbacks, which Filipinos
are still paying for.
- According to De Quiros (1997), when these infrastructures were made, aesthetics was
prioritized over function as these edifices served as a mask to hide the atrocities of the
Marcos regime, to give the world the illusion that the Philippines was progressive, and
Filipinos were not living in trees.
A. Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP)
- A popular venue for international exhibits and performances, the CCP was built in 1966 in
Pasay City under Marcos' Executive Order 30. The 62-hectare complex opened on Sept. 8,
1969.
- While the CCP is still in operation today, the country incurred a debt of over Php 63 million
from the theater’s construction alone.
- Since the CCP was allegedly "rushed" by then First Lady Imelda Marcos for the late dictator's
52nd birthday, the complex had "unpaid obligations" throughout the Marcos regime, which
were then paid after the People Power in terms of assets. The complex, as a result, lost
some of its land, including the site of today's Sofitel Hotel, Star City, Coconut Palace, and
Philippine International Convention Center, or PICC.
B. The Manila Film Center
- At about 3 a.m. of Nov. 17, 1981, the center's scaffolding collapsed, burying around 169
workers alive in quick-drying cement. The Marcos administration tried to cover up the
accident by not permitting rescuers and ambulances into the site not until nine hours after
the incident.
- When the center opened in 1982, it cost the government around $25 million, only to
become a venue for screenings of "pito-pito" and "penekula" or porn films in the '80s
C. Bataan Nuclear Power Plant
- When the plant was nearly complete in 1984, it had cost the government US$2.3 billion. The
country was only able to pay it off in April 2007—30 years after its construction.
- When Marcos was overthrown in 1986, in April of that year, the Chernobyl disaster
happened, prompting the succeeding Corazon Aquino administration to discontinue the
plant. Repaying the debts incurred for the plant became the Philippines' obligation. To this
day, maintaining the plant costs the government P40 million a year.
D. Philippine International Convention Center (PICC)
- Originally a part of the CCP complex, the PICC was touted as Asia's first international
convention center that has been hosting local and foreign meetings and conventions. It was
inaugurated on Sept. 5, 1976, under Marcos' Presidential Decree No. 520.
- Like the CCP, it has degraded, with many parts no longer or rarely used. It is no longer
owned by the CCP because it has been used to repay part of the debts the CCP has incurred
during the Marcos era.
E. Coconut Palace (Tahanang Filipino)
- According to Lico, Imelda wanted a house that would embody everything Filipino in terms of
design, philosophy, material, and execution. Thus, the Tahanang Filipino was erected in
1981.
- A homage to vernacular and modern Philippine architecture, the Coconut Palace was partly
funded by the coconut levy, which was supposed to be for the development of the country's
coconut industry, specifically, for welfare projects for coconut farmers.
F. Nayong Pilipino
- Built in 1969, the Nayong Pilipino near the Ninoy Aquino International Airport was a
brainchild of Imelda. It ran as a theme park featuring replicas of the country's tourist spots
for 32 years before it was transferred to Clark, Pampanga, where it recently became the
subject of an alleged casino anomaly.
G. San Juanico Bridge
- Completed in 1973, the San Juanico Bridge is the country's longest. It spans from Samar to
Imelda's home province, Leyte, as it was the late dictator's birthday gift to Imelda.
H. Philippine Heart Center
- Originally known as Philippine Heart Center of Asia, this hospital in Quezon City was built
under Presidential Decree No. 673 by Marcos. Since it was inaugurated in 1975, it has been
the site of thousands of surgeries, including what was claimed to be the first successful renal
transplant in the country.
I. National Kidney and Transplant Institute
- Formerly the "National Kidney Foundation of the Philippines," the hospital was erected in
1981 and claimed to have hosted many firsts in the Philippines, but already after the Marcos
regime. These included the first double kidney and pancreas transplant in Asia in 1988; the
first kidney and liver transplant in Asia in 1990; and the first bone marrow transplant in the
Philippines in 1990.
- Recently, the institute was under fire as its officials allegedly acquired P750 million worth of
specialized medical equipment without undergoing public bidding.
J. Lung Center of the Philippines
- Established in 1981 to address health care for lung and pulmonary disease, this hospital in
Quezon City was built under Marcos' Presidential Decree No. 1823. A fire destroyed much of
the center in 1988. In 1999, it reopened and is still under construction.
III. Political Stance of Presidential Candidates regarding Build Build Build
A. Sen. Panfilo "Ping" Lacson
- said the scheme could be "better and bolder," as he lamented that out of 118 projects, only
12 were completed.
B. Manila Mayor Isko Moreno
- lauded the Build, Build, Build, but said he would revise it to include "more housing, more
schools, more hospitals, more post-harvest facility, more source of energy."
C. Vice President Leni Robredo
- said while she would continue the initiative, she would not resort to more loans to complete
the projects. To this end, she said she would put emphasis on Public-Private Partnership
instead of Official Development Assistance.
D. Sen. Manny Pacquiao
- boasted of his personal efforts to provide housing for many Filipinos and said Build Build
Build could be better if it benefitted Mindanao.
E. Leody de Guzman
- lamented that funds for the infrastructure push could have been used to solve other
pressing issues like hunger and poverty, especially during the pandemic.
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transform-the-philippines-could-become-his-legacy/?sh=68380b441a7f
