Business Mirror, 01 January 2014
By Mia M. Gonzalez
A SENATOR is seeking a review of the government’s infrastructure and Public-Private Partnership (PPP) programs.
Sen. Grace Poe filed Senate Resolutions (SR) 408 and 409 before Congress went on break, urging the proper Senate committees to review the PPP scheme and the government’s infrastructure program.
Poe filed SR 409 in view of the “dismal ranking” of the Philippines in the quality of overall infrastructure in the World Economic Forum (WEF) Competitiveness Report 2013 to 2014 and draft measures to “revamp” the country’s infrastructure facilities.
She said she was prompted to seek an evaluation of the government’s infrastructure program since the latter plays a critical role in economic development. The Philippines was ranked 96th among 148 countries in overall infrastructure quality in the said report
She pointed out that although this was an improvement over the 98th ranking in the previous WEF report, “the quality of overall infrastructure in the Philippines remains in dire state and is third to last in the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), just past Cambodia and Myanmar.”
Poe said the latest WEF report also showed the Philippines slipping in terms of quality of air transport infrastructure, where it ranked 113th; port infrastructure, 116th; railroad infrastructure, 89th; and roads, 87th.
“The same report has cited that adequate supply of infrastructure is one of the most problematic factors for doing business in the Philippines, and insufficient infrastructure and poor connectivity are major obstacles to development,” she said.
Poe said while the government increased its 2014 infrastructure budget to P400 billion or 3 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), “the outlay was well below the 5 percent of GDP recommended by economists to spur the domestic economy, ensure more jobs, tackle poverty and revive ailing sectors.”
She also said the government’s infrastructure program should consider “all-season transportation networks that include roads, railways and air and sea ports” especially after Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan) destroyed vital transportation networks that crippled rescue and relief efforts.
In filing SR 408, Poe urged the proper Senate committees to review the government’s PPP program “with the end in view of harnessing its full potentials” in investment and job generation by hastening the implementation of key infrastructure projects, taking into consideration the promotion of state and public interest.
The senator said a 2011 study commissioned by the Asian Development Bank ranked the Philippines highest among the Asean nations in terms of PPP readiness.
Poe said “despite much hype of the PPP framework being pushed as a flagship program of the Aquino administration,” only four PPP projects have been awarded to date while 40 are still in the pipeline.
“Investors have complained of a tedious process of multiagency approvals of revisions to draft concession agreements, as officials have acknowledged that amendments to current laws and its implementing rules and regulations governing PPP projects is a must to swiftly roll-out big ticket infrastructure items,” Poe said.
