A FRIEND asked me about what I thought about President Duterte’s “Build Build Build” program. I answered that aside from its obvious practical benefits, it’s also an important pillar in his legacy. Once finished, the projects under the Build, Build, Build program will be symbols of the Duterte’s administration, and this is true for all buildings projects – great and small. Consider the following examples.
The longest bridge in the world can be found in China. It’s the bridge that connects Hong Kong with the rest of the mainland, and spans 50 km long. The bridge, however, is more than just a bit of infrastructure. It is also a symbol that Hong Kong belongs to China and that the city is nothing without the country.
In the United States, there is the plan to build Trump’s wall, which clearly an attempt at stopping the flow of illegal migrants from Mexico. However, the wall is also a symbol of America’s increasing nationalism and an end to globalized, neo-liberal America.
In Dubai, we have the 163 story Burj Khalifa, which is a symbol of the region’s wealth and opulence. It also symbolizes the Gulf states attempts at creating a more diverse, and service-oriented economy, which is in stark contrast with their less glamorous oil-based economy.
Structures and infrastructure are tangible things, but the biggest and most important ones also symbolize certain trends and ideas. They’re essentially modern day totems; symbolic icons meant to convey certain feelings in those who see them.
Here in the Philippines, we are in the process of building several new projects through the Duterte Administration’s Build, Build, Build program, and yes, the country really does need the program. We need a lot of infrastructure, and there’s really no going around that, but the Build Build Build program is more than just a program for building infrastructure. It is also a symbol of Duterte’s ambitions for the country, and such ambitions develop new meanings when they are made concrete.
There’s the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit, the expansion of the Clark Expansion Phase and perhaps most importantly NLEX-SLEX Connector Road, not to mention numerous bridge, airport and road projects all over the country. These are the new symbols of Philippines under the Duterte administration; not quite as impressive nor as totemic as other projects throughout the world, but their quantity represent a quality of their own.
Such structures are more than just steel and concrete. If they are successful they will be one of the Duterte’s most important legacies; utilitarian from a certain point of view but also totemic and symbolic of the country’s future ambitions./PN
