The Aquino administration is currently pushing for the amendments of the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Law to institutionalize the reforms that have been initiated since its implementation of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Program in 2010.
Last March 18, the House Committee on Public Works and Highways has approved the substitute bill on the proposed Amendments to Republic Act (RA) 7718, or PPP Act. The committee is set to produce a report that will be submitted to the Committee on Appropriations, which will then be forwarded to the Committee on Rules for second reading of the proposed bill.
The proposed amendments in the PPP Act will benefit the public and the local and foreign investors. Some of the proposed amendments in the bill are: clearer appeal mechanisms in case of protests by the bidders, and various treatment options for unsolicited proposal: (1) accept the proposal subject to the conduct of Swiss Challenge; (2) use the proposal as basis for public bidding subject to reimbursement of development cost; (3) reject the proposal if deemed unacceptable.
Other salient features of the substitute bill include prohibition against the issuance of restraining orders and injunctive reliefs by the court except the Supreme Court (validity period of 6 months); prohibition against regulatory bodies from entering into any PPP contract that they regulate; exempting projects of national significance from real property tax and other local taxes; and automatic grants of business permits, and institutionalization of the Project Development and Monitoring Facility, contingent liability fund, PPP Center and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.
When both chambers pass the PPP Act, it will be endorsed to President Aquino to be signed into law. The government is hoping for the bill to be enacted before the year ends.
Last month, the Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines, Makati Business Club and Management Association of the Philippines were calling for the swift ratification of the PPP Act through a letter sent to Benguet Representative Ronald M. Cosalan, Chairman of the Committee on Public Works and Highways.
“We call on government to swiftly enact the amendments to the BOT Law that will institutionalize the PPP Center and its processes, which we believe will further strengthen our PPP framework and prevent hindrances to the implementation of critical public projects,” the groups stated.
Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Chairman of the Public Works Committee, has stressed the importance of amending the BOT Law during a Senate hearing on March 3, 2015.
Senator Marcos said that “there is a need to update and replace the BOT Law by incorporating valuable lessons learned from past projects as well as global best practices in public-private partnerships”.
The honorable Senator filed Senate Bill No. 2665 entitled “An Act Authorizing Public-Private Partnerships, Appropriating Funds Therefore, And For Other Purposes”.The Bill was filed on February 24, 2015 and was first read on February 25, 2015 and referred to the Committee on Public Works, joint by Committees on Ways and Means, Economic Affairs, Local Government, and Finance.
The proposed PPP Act is seen to ensure the sustainability of the Philippines’ PPP Program. The government has already awarded nine (9) PPP contracts and now has a robust pipeline of projects with an indicative total cost of Php 1053.77 billion or USD 23.417 billion.
