Gov’t to bid 16 PPP projects in 2012

The PPP Center says 16 projects are undergoing pre-investment studies prior to their being bid out in 2012.

The government’s public-private partnership (PPP) program will gain momentum in 2012 with 16 projects expected to be bid out.

The PPP program is the cornerstone of the Aquino administration’s Philippine Development Plan 2011-2016, which aims to achieve “inclusive,” high-level growth averaging 7 to 8 percent a year.

Ronaldo F. Corpus, project development service director at the PPP Center, said the 16 projects were undergoing pre-investment studies. Of these, 10 were being supported by the government’s P550-million Project Development and Monitoring Facility (PDMF).

The PPP Center, an attached agency of the National Economic and Development Authority, manages the PDMF and leads the government’s PPP efforts.

Corpus said the target was for the bidding on the 16 projects to start around the second or third quarter of 2012.

So far, about 50 percent or more of the PDMF has been used. When the projects get awarded, the money spent on pre-investment studies would be charged to the winning bidder, thus replenishing the PDMF, Corpus said.

So far, the PPP Center has lent PDMF support to the Department of Health’s Vaccine Self-Sufficiency Project (VSSP) Phase II and the Philippine Orthopedic Center modernization project, and the Department of Education’s (DepEd) classroom program.

The Department of Transportation and Communications’ Laguindingan Airport development project (operation and maintenance), Common Automatic Fare Collection System, Mactan Cebu International Airport New Passenger Terminal and the new Bohol airport development project have also received PDMF support.

The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System’s new water supply source project and the operation and maintenance of hydropower plants are also beneficiaries as well as the Department of Agriculture’s establishment of cold chain systems.

PDMF is open for access to government agencies and local government units for projects that can be specifically undertaken through the PPP scheme.

The PPP Center said that it continued to receive expressions of interest from various agencies wanting to avail themselves of the PDMF.