26 November 2012, Malaya Business Insight
by Angela Celis
The Public Private Partnership (PPP) Center remains optimistic that the goal of rolling out eight projects by year-end will be met despite the fact that only four projects have been rolled out so far this year.
Ferdinand Tolentino, PPP Center deputy director, yesterday said that the target of eight projects to be rolled out this year is still “feasible” even though there is only less than a month and a half left before the year ends.
“We have reached our halfway point target,” he added during his speech at the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines’ Economic Forum 2012 at the Manila Peninsula Hotel.
Tolentino added that the National Economic and Development Authority-Investment Coordination Committee met Friday, and if all went well, several more may be added to the list of rolled out projects.
“We have been positive about the program and remain so to this day,” Tolentino said.
“This is a sentiment shared by a number of credit and financing consulting firms and as the DTI-BOI would validate for you, there is an increased number of foreign investors eager and able to plunk their money here in the Philippines,” he added.
In 2011, the government promised that 10 projects would be rolled out for the said year.
However, only the $46.6 million Daang Hari-SLEX Link Road project was awarded to Ayala Corp. last year.
The Aquino administration’s flagship program was expected to increase growth by around two percentage points each year.
Had the government been able to roll out the proposed PPP projects in 2011, the Philippine economy could have grown by around 5.9 percent, from the actual 3.9 percent gross domestic product growth rate recorded last year.
For 2012, the Aquino administration was able to bid out the $389 million School Infrastructure Project Phase I, which was awarded to the consortiums of Citicore Holdings Investment Inc.-Megawide Construction Corp. Inc. and BF Corp.-Riverbanks Development Corporation.
Other projects that have been rolled out are the $377.6 million NAIA Expressway Phase II Project, the $1.25 billion LRT Line 1 Cavite Extension and Operations and Maintenance Project, and the $135.5 million Modernization of the Philippine Orthopedic Center.
Tolentino said during the forum, where most of the participants are business journalists, that many of those who have been covering the business beat are fixated on the numbers.
“Some are fixating on the numbers – how many projects have been rolled out? Are you going to reach your target of eight PPP projects for this year? How many more will you be churning out for 2013?” Tolentino said.
He added that there are even some who question the merits of undertaking projects using the PPP scheme, and that the most serious allegation faced by the agency is that most of the projects are for privatization or corporatization.
However, Tolentino said that the PPP program has already taken off and that, at this point, investors worldwide have expressed confidence that doing business in the Philippines is good business.
“We have renowned consulting firms validating the increased investor confidence that has marked our entry into the world of public-private partnerships. This is the best time to ride the Philippine PPP wave,” Tolentino said.
