7 PPP projects up for Palace approval

THE NATIONAL Economic and Development Authority (Neda) will endorse for President Aquino’s approval seven projects, mostly infrastructure, for bidding under the government’s public-private partnership (PPP)  initiative.

In a text message yesterday, Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said Neda’s investment coordination committee (ICC) had approved all the seven projects presented during its meeting last Wednesday.

Balisacan, who is also the Director-General of the Neda, said that in many cases, the final approval of the projects would still be “subject to fulfillment of other requirements.”

“ICC approvals still need to be confirmed by the Neda Board, chaired by the President,” before the projects could be auctioned off, Balisacan said.

The Neda ICC discussed five of these PPP projects, including the P19.33-billion Motor Vehicle Inspections System; P177.22-billion south line of the North-South Railway, and P374.5-billion Makati-Pasay-Taguig Mass Transit System Loop project, which would be offered in a bidding by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).

Also tackled during the ICC meeting were the proposal of the Department of Public Works and Highways to expand the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway or TPLEx via PPP and the second phase of the Philippine Statistics Authority’s P1.16-billion Civil Registry System information technology project.

Two new projects were also acted on by Neda’s ICC: the second phase of the Bureau of Fire Protection’s (BFP) capability-building program, which would be rolled out by the Department of the Interior and Local Government, and the proposed west extension of the Light Rail Transit’s (LRT) Line 2.

The LRT Line 2 extension from Recto station, which was proposed by the DOTC, would bring the western end of LRT 2 to the Divisoria area, a shopping mecca in Manila.

The BFP-led project, meanwhile, would involve the purchase of up to 76 fire trucks from Austria.

Neda Deputy Director-General Rolando G. Tungpalan earlier said the Cabinet-level Neda Board meeting would likely be held in late January or early February.