The Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center said Friday over a hundred projects are in the pipeline to be implemented through collaboration between the government and the private sector.
At a press chat in Quezon City, PPP Center Deputy Executive Director Eleazar Ricote said a total of 109 projects are currently in the pipeline—or those with no signed contracts and under various stages of procurement—with an estimated cost of P2.4 trillion.
Ricote said 97 of the projects are to be implemented at the national level, while the remaining 12 are at the local level. The big-ticket items include the proposed privatization of the operation, maintenance, and rehabilitation of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Also in the pipeline are the Bislig City Bulk Water Supply and Septage Project in Surigao del Sur, and the Dialysis Center and Renal Facility of the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center.
Three unsolicited projects were also mentioned by Ricote, namely the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway Extension to San Juan, La Union; the P9.4-billion University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital Cancer Center; and the Baggao Water Supply Project.
Fast-tracked projects
For his part, PPP Center Deputy Executive Director Jeffrey Manalo expressed optimism that with the signing into law of the PPP Code, the processing of public-private projects will be fast-tracked.
Manalo said that contracts between the private and public sectors would be fairer under the new code, which could attract more firms to partner with the government in undertaking infrastructure projects.
Last week, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. signed into law Republic Act 11966, or the PPP Code, which seeks to establish a stable and predictable environment for collaboration between the public and private sectors. It addresses gaps in infrastructure systems, and frees up much-needed resources to enable the government to pursue other equally important projects and initiatives.
The new law will incorporate best practices from decades of experience in implementing the Build-Operate-Transfer Law, and will ensure that the country will build better infrastructure projects and mitigate risks during their implementation.
Manalo said that under the PPP Code, the threshold for PPP project approval, all the way to the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Board chaired by the President, was raised to P15 billion.
To illustrate the magnitude of the threshold’s adjustment, Manalo said that “about half of the 197 flagship infrastructure projects of the administration are below the P15-billion threshold.”
Ricote added that 46 of the flagship projects of the government are PPPs.
Meanwhile, out of the 109 PPP projects in the pipeline, 22 projects are above the P15-billion threshold.
Under the law, PPP projects costing below P15 billion shall only be approved by the head of the implementing agency.
However, the NEDA Board’s Investment Coordination Committee may still approve a project below the threshold if it overlaps with an already approved project, negatively affects a project already approved by the government, or if it requires government undertaking to be funded under the national budget. — VDV, GMA Integrated News
By TED CORDERO, GMA Integrated News
Published December 15, 2023 7:36pm
