Communications chief presents Build, Build, Build program in China

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte’s Build, Build, Build program was recently presented in China as part of the celebration of the fifth anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative, Presidential Communications Secretary Martin M. Andanar said on Sunday. “So tayo po ay nag-host doon sa CCTV… So anyhow, nandoon po tayo at dinala natin iyong ating Build, Build, Build doon. Ipinagmayabang natin iyong mga infrastructure projects ni Pangulong Duterte,” Mr. Andanar said in a radio interview on Saturday, Sept. 22. (So, I hosted in CCTV [China Central Television]…. So anyhow, I was there to present the Build, Build, Build program. We boasted about the infrastructure projects of the President.)

He added: “Well, mayroon kasing anniversary iyong

Belt and Road Initiative. Ito po iyong major infrastructure project ng China kung saan dinadala nila sa iba’t ibang bansa iyong kanilang kapital para tulungan.” (Well, it’s because it’s the anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative. This is the major infrastructure project of China through which they bring their capital to different countries to help them.)

Mr. Andanar said he visited China “two weeks ago.” According to the One Belt One Road (OBOR) Philippines’ Web site, Chinese President Xi Jinping officially unveiled China’s Belt and Road Initiative during his visit to “Central Asia and Southeast Asia in September and October of 2013.”

“Like the ancient Silk Road, the One Belt One Road will have huge economic advantages for China as well as for other countries that join in. This initiative has the power to shift the center of the world’s economic activity to Asia, as well as provide Asian countries with the resources they need to continue developing. More than just an economic maneuver, President XI Jingping has also made this issue of foreign policy by promising that the creation of OBOR will allow China to offer more economic support to the other countries in South East Asia,” the OBOR Philippines also said. —