Business World, 24 October 2013
JUST FIVE public-private partnership (PPP) projects are expected to be completed by the end of Aquino administration’s term, an official yesterday said, but the infrastructure program will continue after 2016 given the groundwork that is being laid.
“We will finish Daang Hari. We will finish the two school projects. We will finish the hospital. We will finish the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) expressway … So we have five projects that will be finished in the remaining term of President [Benigno S. C.] Aquino [III],” PPP Center Executive Director Cosette V. Canilao yesterday told a capital markets forum.
“[The year] 2015 will be the height of construction for the projects that will be rolled out in the next few months, and what’s more important to us is to leave a very successful program to the next administration…,” Ms. Canilao added.
Just four PPP projects have been awarded by the Aquino administration since it rolled out its centerpiece infrastructure program in late 2010. The P1.96-billion Daang Hari-South Luzon expressway project was the first, going to Ayala Corp. in 2011. The second, the P16.42-billion first phase of the PPP School Infrastructure Program (PSIP), was granted to two consortiums last year, while the P15.68-billion NAIA expressway and phase two of the PSIP were awarded this year.
The government is still reviewing the sole bid submitted for the P5.70-billion Philippine Orthopedic Center project.
Ronald L. Arambulo, executive director of the Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines, said continuity was important to ensure the PPP program’s success.
“When … you leave, you have to make sure that the next batch won’t start from zero again,” Mr. Arambulo said.
Transportation Undersecretary Rene K. Limcaoco admitted that the government “could have gone faster” in the implementation of some projects, but said the process involved a “learning curve.”
“We were starting off from scratch. When we came in, we had an empty cupboard and we basically had to start everything from scratch,” he said.
But Ms. Canilao said: “We’re done already with setting the framework and the processes, although we’re still improving it … We already have a lot of learnings from the private sector and the government so for the remaining term, hopefully, it will be faster.”
The Aquino government has come under fire over the delays that have hit the PPP program. It has claimed that extensive reviews were needed to make projects foolproof, although recently prospective investors have complained of onerous contract terms.
