GMA News, 16 December 2014
By Danessa O. Rivera
 
At least eight projects worth over half a trillion pesos under the public-private partnership (PPP) program are up for inter-agency before the end of the year and for final green-lighting by President Benigno Aquino III.

“We are hoping to bring at least eight PPP projects,” PPP Center executive director Cosette Canilao told reporters on a sidelines briefing during the ASEAN PPP Networking Forum in Manila.

The PPP Center is the state agency tasked to review the projects.

Canilao said the Inter-Agency Investment Coordination Committee-Cabinet Committee (ICC-CabCom) will meet Friday, December 19, for the following P633.21 billion worth of projects:

  • Motor Vehicle Inspection System (P19.33 billion)
  • North-South Commuter Railway (South Line) (P177.22 billion)
  • Makati-Pasay-Taguig Mass Transit System Loop (MTSL) Project (P374.5 billion)
  • The rebidding of Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX) (P35.42 billion)
  • The unsolicited proposal on the NLEX-SLEX connector parameters (P25.6 billion)
  • The unsolicited proposal on the Civil Registry System-IT Project (Phase II) (P1.161 billion)

 
Canilao said the PPP Center is also finishing the further extension of LRT Line 1 to Dasmariñas and the redevelopment and operation maintenance of the Ninoy Aquino International Aiport (NAIA).

Both projects undergoing feasibility studies still have no indicative costs, according to the PPP Center website.

If the ICC-CabCom green-lights the projects, these would be up for the nod of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board, chaired by President Aquino.

However, Canilao noted meeting with the NEDA Board may take place after the January 15 to 19 Papal visit.

“But I think, within the first half of next month, we could have one,” she said.

CALAX rebidding

In rebidding the CALAX project, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will have to secure new regulatory approvals. Last November, the President decided to rebid the project.

“It will be the ICC and NEDA board who will approve the new terms and conditions of the rebidding,” Canilao noted.

CALAX is a 47-kilometer, eight-interchange tollway that starts at the Cavite Expressway in Kawit and ends at the Mamplasan interchange of South Luzon Expressway in Biñan.

The project auctioned last June was won by Team Orion, a joint venture of Ayala Corp. and Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc.

However, San Miguel Corp. subsidiary Optimal Infrastructure Development Inc. was disqualified due to a defective bid security and made an appeal to the Office of the President.

DOTC projects

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is again pushing for the Motor Vehicle Inspection System after new parameters have been introduced.

“The DOTC has looked at another way of extending probably to make it viable to the private sector at the same time acceptable to the market,” Canilao said.

“So it’s a new parameter that has been opened up and we have to present this to the Cabinet committee before going back to the NEDA board,” she added.

The project involves setting up Motor Vehicle Inspections Centers (MVIC) to test various categories of heavy duty, light duty and two wheeler vehicles, across the country.

Another project from the DOTC, the proposed North-South Commuter Railway South Line PPP, is the 653-kilometer train system covering Metro Manila to Legazpi City in Albay, plus a number of existing and proposed branch lines.

On the other hand, the Makati-Pasay-Taguig Mass Transit System Loop Project, will involve a 12-kilometer rail line connecting Bonifacio Global City, Makati Central Business District, and Mall of Asia area in Pasay City.

Launched in 2010, the Aquino administration’s centerpiece program, PPP initiative, aims to tap private sector funds for 57 infrastructure projects worth P852.13 billion. – VS GMA News