PUBLIC-PRIVATE partnership (PPP) projects already approved by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board will not be affected by the “hybrid” PPP project procurement process the government wants to pursue.
“That (hybrid PPP) will not stop this. Hindi yan maapektohan ng (It will not be affected by the) decision process…,” PPP Center Executive Director Ferdinand A. Pecson said in a briefing on Friday.
“Especially the airports, PPP yan (those are PPP). Para sa future projects lang yung (hybrid)… Yung mga airports, being pursued na (The hybrid mode will only be for future projects. The airport projects are already being pursued). Hindi na babalik sa ganung [official development assistance (ODA)] process (It won’t return to the ODA process),” said Mr. Pecson.
According to Mr. Pecson, projects that have not yet been approved by the NEDA Board may be subject to the “hybrid” type of procurement once okayed.
In July this year, Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno proposed a new “hybrid” PPP project system to fast track infrastructure development. Under this system, the proposed project would go through ODA funding given the loan facility’s lower interest rates and long repayment period.
After that, the government, using private contractors, will build the facility and then offer it for public bidding to interested private companies which would then be in charge of operating and maintaining the project.
For now, the PPP Center will still have to draft the guidelines for the proposed “hybrid” system, which Mr. Pecson said would take “at least three months” to formulate.
“It has to be approved by the ICC (Investment Coordination Committee) Cabinet cluster. So may working group muna (there will be a working group first),” Mr. Pecson said.
The group, according to Mr. Pecson, will have as members representatives from NEDA, the Department of Finance, the Department of Budget and Management, the PPP Center and implementing agencies.
“One of the agreed actions to do is to form a group that will evaluate — not just the hybrid [system] — what is the best way of procuring the project,” Mr. Pecson said.
The working group is expected to be formed and operational by next month.
The eleven projects under procurement already approved by the NEDA Board and will not be affected by the formulation of the “hybrid” PPP procurement method are the New Bohol (Panglao) Airport Project, the Laguindingan Airport Project, the Davao Airport Project, the Bacolod Airport Project, the Iloilo Airport Project, the Manila Light Rail Transit System Line 2 (LRT-2) Project, the Davao Sasa Port Modernization Project, the Road Transport Information Technology Infrastructure Project (Phase 2), the New Centennial Water Source-Kaliwa Dam Project, the Regional Prison Facilities Project and the LRT Line 6 Project.
17 December 2016
By Danica M. Uy
