Wanted in the Philippines: Workers

摘要

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's plan to supercharge growth with a $180 billion infrastructure program is running into a roadblock: A lot of the people he needs to build all the roads, bridges, airports, and railways are working abroad. Under a policy named "Build, Build, Build," Duterte plans to boost infrastructure spending, helped by grants from China and Japan, to 7.3 percent of gross domestic product by 2022, from 6.3 percent this year. First up is a terminal at Clark International Airport-the former U.S. air base north of Manila-that would triple its capacity, to 12 million passengers a year. Other projects due to get under way this year include Manila's first subway and a 102-kilometer (63-mile) railway in Mindanao, an island in the south of the country where government forces are engaged in a long-running battle with Islamic militants.