UNITEAM senatorial aspirant Mark Villar on Monday vowed to sustain the gains of the “Build, Build, Build” (BBB) program of the Duterte administration that has generated 6.5 million jobs and built more than 30,000 kilometers of roads for Filipinos since 2017.

Guesting on Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte’s online show “Sara All For You,” Villar said the BBB – a centerpiece program of the President Rodrigo R. Duterte administration that aims to usher the “Golden age of infrastructure” in the Philippines – deserves continuity with focus on more large-scale infrastructure projects around the country.

“Gusto ko pong i-promote at i-push ang ‘Build, Build, Build’ program na sinimulan ni President Rodrigo Duterte dahil nakita ko po ‘yung benepisyo para sa ating lahat, hindi lang po sa roads,” Villar said.

Villar, when he was secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) from 2016 to 2020, spearheaded the construction and rehabilitation of major highways, farm-to-market roads, bridges, bypasses or diversion roads, among others that lead to economic zones and declared tourism destinations.

Among the 100 flagship projects of DPWH as a subset of the BBB program are the Luzon Spine Express Network, South Luzon Express Way Toll Way 4, Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3, Metro Cebu Expressway, NLEX Harbor Link Segment 10, the Cavite Laguna Expressway, Tarlac Pangasinan La Union Expressway, the Laguna Lake Highway, the Candon City Bypass Road in Ilocos Sur, Pulilan-Baliuag Diversion Road in Bulacan, Calapan-Roxas Road in Oriental Mindoro, the Mandaue Causeway Road in Cebu, Dipolog-Oriquieta Road in Misamis Occidental, Dumaguete North Road in Negros Oriental, and the Taytay-El Nido Road in Palawan, and Davao Coastal Road in Davao City.

Villar added that he will take the “Build, Build, Build” program to the legislative branch because the constant expansion of infrastructure had resulted in tremendous job creation across the country and had a great impact on Filipinos.

“Importante po na i-push natin sa legislative branch ang ‘Build, Build, Build’ program kasi ito rin po ang aangat sa ekonomiya natin. Ito rin ang makapagbibigay ng trabaho na kailangan natin ngayon dahil sa pandemya na malakas ang tama sa ating mga kababayan,” said Villar.

The BBB program is composed of thousands of projects meant to improve connectivity, facilitate growth in every province across the country and accelerate public infrastructure expenditure from an average of 2.9 percent of gross domestic product.

Villar said it is his dream to see a big change in the country.

“Gusto ko talaga na makitang may pagbabago. Nakita ko naman na napakaganda ng vision ni President Duterte para sa Pilipinas at naisip niya yung ‘Build, Build, Build’ program. I really wanted to be a part of that and I really wanted to help push for it,” Villar said.

These improvements, he said, will not be successful if not for the utmost support of the local governments.

Quoting the “Hindi masalita, sumisigaw ang gawa” line from the Villar ad, vice presidential aspirant Sara Duterte lauded Villar as “his attitude as a person can be seen in his work accomplishments” including the Davao City Coastal road.

“Ang importante po talaga ay yung gawa. With you, kahit wala kang sinasabi, nakikita at nafe-feel namin na meron kang infrastructure projects na nagawa,” Davao City Mayor Sara said.

“Nobody can take away from you ang Davao Coastal Road na nakikita namin dito sa Davao City,” Villar added.