Public-Private Partnership Center

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said at the sidelines of the Philippines Investment Forum that he is hoping for the passage of the proposed amendments in the BOT law before the 2016 elections.

“We are working with congress already. There are many features in the amendments that can make it easier to implement PPP projects,” the finance chief said yesterday.

“The focus of this administration is to increase investments, reduce the infrastructure gap, and to make it easier to do business in the country,” he added.

Purisima said that one of the proposed amendments in the BOT law is the clearer provisions in the right-of-way acquisitions (ROWA).

“Right now, the ROWA can take some time. The government has a right of eminent domain and yet we’re held back by TROs (temporary restraining orders),” Purisima said.

“We want clearer provisions that would come up with mechanisms to determine how disputes in valuation will be dealt with without delaying the projects. Because sometimes the projects are held hostage because of this valuation provision,” he added.

Another amendment is in the taxation regime of some projects.

“This is a result of our experience with Pagbilao (power plant) where the local government unit tried to increase the tax to a point where the viability or the cost of that service becomes much higher than the rest of the country,” Purisima said.

“Therefore I think we need more clarity in this area,” he added.

19 February 2014

By Angela Celis