MANILA, Philippines – Five public-private partnership (PPP) projects lined up for approval by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) board since last year would be turned over to the next economic administration for review and clearance, the PPP Center said.

The projects collectively valued at more than P100 billion include the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Development project, Batangas-Manila Natural Gas Pipeline Project, Plaridel Bypass Toll Road, Philippine Travel Center Complex, and New Nayong Pilipino at Entertainment City Project.

PPP Center executive director Andre Palacios said the board would would no longer hold any meetings before the current administration’s term ends.

“These projects have already been approved by the ICC (Investment Coordination Committee) and are awaiting NEDA Board approval. There would be no more meetings before June 30 but we hope the next administration would continue with the approval and procurement process for the projects so as to avoid delays in the provision of services,” he said.

The NEDA Board, chaired by the President, gives the go-signal for the implementation of infrastructure and developmental projects.

Palacios, however, is optimistic the next economic team would continue with the rollout of infrastructure projects in the pipeline.

“We are very optimistic based on the statements made by the incoming Finance and NEDA chiefs on the continuation of PPP projects,” he said.

Incoming socioeconomic planning secretary and NEDA director general Ernesto Pernia said the Duterte administration is keen on speeding up the rollout of PPP projects by streamlining the procurement system.

In the past six years, the average time it took to implement 12 PPP projects was 29 months. Pernia said the new administration aims to shorten this to between 18 to 20 months.

In a related development, Palacios is confident the ICC would approve the the P1.6-billion civil registry system modernization project of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

The lone bidder for the second phase of the project, Unisys Public Sector Services Corp., has proposed as 45.5 percent concessionaire’s revenue share, lower than the 57.87 percent cap set by the PSA from the project’s gross revenue.

There were three companies vying for the project with the two other prequalified bidders – Morpho-Filmetrics-Frey consortium composed of Filipino and French companies and the PNJ partnership composed of Filipino and Japanese firms.

The project, which would take two years to develop, involves the upgrade of the existing civil registry system to an entirely new system with higher specifications and service level requirements and the construction of a new building.

23 June 2016
By Czeriza Valencia