MANILA – A total of PHP2.1 trillion has been invested in the country through public-private partnerships (PPP) since the establishment of the build-operate-transfer law in 1994, the PPP Center (PPPC) said Wednesday.
In a press conference in Quezon City, PPPC Deputy Executive Director, lawyer Mia Sebastian said the amount comprised a total of 143 PPP projects, 63 of which were awarded beginning 2010 to present.
She said about 17 projects are being actively monitored and assisted by the implementing agencies, both at the national government level side and the local government side.
“It’s a significant investment coming from the private sector side for the continuous development of our infrastructure agenda in the Philippines,” she added.
Of the total 143 awarded projects, Sebastian said 67 were operational, 13 were under construction, 16 under pre-construction, and 37 have already been completed.
Predominantly, she said, the projects were in the transportation sector with a total of 27 PPP projects composed of airports, rail projects, terminals, and ports.
“There are also some other projects in other sectors, such as water and sanitation, solid waste management—there is a lot in the power sector side,” Sebastian said.
She also highlighted the PPP projects that were completed in 2019 that the PPPC assisted in implementation.
One of these milestones, she said, was the Mactan Cebu International Airport Passenger Terminal Building Project.
“The Terminal 1 Rehabilitation is 100-percent complete as of August 31, 2019, and it’s now fully operational,” Sebastian said.
Another was the Bulacan Bulk Water Supply Project, which currently serves three cities and 10 municipalities in Bulacan and has been fully operational since April 25.
Other projects include the partial opening of the Buendia-Paco segment of the Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3 on July 22, the Civil Registry Information Technology Project Phase 2 involving the Philippine Statistics Authority, the partial opening at Mamplasan Interchange of the Cavite-Laguna Expressway project in October, the awarding of the operations and maintenance (O&M) component of the Clark International Airport in January and the handover of the O&M activities for its existing passenger terminal in August, and the execution of the concession agreement between the Department of Transportation and the San Miguel Aerocity Inc. in September for the New Manila International Airport in Bulacan.
“All of these major milestones relate to national government projects. Composed of both the transportation side, with a few components in terms of the non-traditional sector such as water supply, as well as IT system,” Sebastian said.
In addition to the projects at the national government level, she said the PPPC also assisted local government in infrastructure development, an example of which is the Kalibo Slaughterhouse project awarded in June.
“It’s a relatively smaller project… but it is a very promising milestone in terms of a local government focusing on their infrastructure agenda by tapping the private sector,” Sebastian said.
In a news release, the PPPC said more implementing agencies (IA) at the local level have recently undertaken PPP projects as a result of the PPPC’s intensive campaign anchored on providing capacity-building and technical assistance to local IAs.
The PPPC said these include local government units, water districts, state universities and colleges, special economic zones, and tourism enterprise zones to help generate more bankable PPPs at the local level. (PNA)
By Raymond Carl Dela Cruz
