Source:  Business Mirror, 23 March 2012

THE National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Board, in its first meeting for the year, approved on Thursday a total of 12 projects worth P133 billion.

Neda Director General Cayetano W. Paderanga Jr., in a telephone interview, said the projects include the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1 South Extension, which is being eyed as one of the public-private partnership (PPP) projects to be bid out this year.

Earlier, the PPP Center said it is scheduled to roll out P154.47 billion worth of projects in 2012. The amount covers 16 projects to be undertaken by various implementing agencies (IAs).

The complete list of the projects approved by the board was not immediately available from the Neda.

“Inaasahan natin na i-extend natin itong light-rail system natin, ‘yung LRT 1, will go up to Bacoor,” President Aquino said in a statement issued after the Neda Board meeting at Malacanang.

Bacoor is a town in Cavite province, south of Manila.

The LRT 1 project will extend the existing 15-km LRT Line 1 system southward by an additional 11.7 kilometers, of which approximately 10.5 km will be elevated and 1.2 km will be at-grade.

The extension will start from the existing line’s last station at Baclaran in Parañaque City  and will traverse Parañaque and Las Piñas City in Metro Manila and reach Bacoor.

It will initially include eight new passenger stations with a provision of two additional passenger stations.  A satellite depot for light-rail vehicle (LRV) storage and light maintenance will be located at the southern end of the proposed line. Intermodal facilities will also be installed at high-demand stations.

The construction of the Cavite Extension Line is divided into two phases; the first phase shall be from Baclaran to Dr. Santos Avenue (Phase 1A) and the second phase shall be from Dr. Santos Avenue to Niyog Station (Phase 1B)

The biggest of the PPP projects is the P25-billion Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) new water supply; the smallest will be the P900-million Vaccine Self-Sufficiency Program of the Department of Health (DOH).

The list of 16 projects includes the P20.18-billion Nlex-Slex Connector Road; P20-billion Balara Water Hub; P19.69-billion Cala Expressway (Cavite and Laguna side); P11.3-billion LRT 2 East Extension; P10.4-billion PPP for School Infrastructure Project (Batch 1); P10.15-billion Mactan Terminal 2 Airport Development; and P8-billion New Bohol Airport.

Other projects are the P7.8-billion Laguindingan Airport Operations and Maintenance; P5.3-billion Cold Chain Systems Project; P5-billion Modernization of the Philippine Orthopedic Center; P4.2-billion Puerto Princesa Airport; P1.8 billion-Common Fare Collection System; P1.5-billion Rehabilitate-Operate-Transfer of  Angat Hydro Electric Power Plant Turbines 4 and 5; and P1.25-billion Grains Central Project.

Documents previously obtained by the BusinessMirror showed that apart from the 16 projects scheduled for rollout this year, there are 43 other projects in the PPP pipeline.

This pipeline includes 15 projects to be implemented by the Department of Transportation and Communications; nine projects by the Department of Public Works and Highways; eight projects with local government Units; and two each for the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the MWSS.

The list of pipeline projects also includes one project each for the Department of Education, Department of Justice; Department of Finance, National Irrigation Administration, Department of Foreign Affairs; Office of the Solicitor General, Department of National Defense, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, and Land Transportation Office.

The list of projects approved by the Neda Board in its meeting included the Market Transformation through Introduction of Energy Efficient Electric Tricycle (E-Trike) Project of the Department of Energy; Agus VI Hydroelectric Power Plant (Units 1 and 2) Uprating Project of the National Power Corp.; Land Transportation Office Infrastructure and Information System (LTO-IIS) Project of the Department of Transportation and Communication; and the Jalaur River Multipurpose Irrigation Project Phase II, Umayam River Irrigation Project (URIP) and 6. Casecnan Multipurpose Irrigation and Power Project (CMIPP)­—Irrigation Component Phase II of National Irrigation Administration.

Other projects were the Bridge Construction Project for Expanded Agrarian Reform Communities Development—Umiray Bridge of the Department of Agrarian Reform; Integrated Natural Resources and Environmental Management Program   of the Department of

Environment and Natural Resources; the Baler-Casiguran Road Improvement Project and Samar Pacific Coastal Road Project of the Department of Public Works and Highways; and Integrated Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate-Change Adaptation Measures in Low-Lying Areas of Pampanga Bay Project of the Department of Public Works and Highways and Department of Education.

In Photo: President Aquino and other members of the Neda Board prepare to take a seat at the fi rst meeting of the board this year in Malacañang. The President is chairman of the Neda Board. With him in the photo are Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and Neda Director General Cayetano Paderanga Jr., Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima and DOTC Secretary Manuel Roxas II. (Rey Baniquet / Malacañang Photo Bureau)