Gov’t draws up P380B infrastructure plan

MANUEL ROXAS II: Implementation of projects on track.INQUIRER PHOTO

The Department of Transportation and Communications has unveiled an ambitious five-year development plan, involving the construction of P380 billion worth of infrastructure to boost the economy, particularly the underdeveloped countryside, over the next five years.

Transportation Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II on Thursday tried to quell the business community’s fears that the administration would fall short of its development goals due to delays in the government’s infrastructure program.

“We have set a plan and, by next year, we hope that we can present a report card on the progress of these projects to all of you,” Roxas told members of the Makati Business Club (MBC) and Management Association of the Philippines.

The majority of big-ticket infrastructure projects lined up by the Aquino administration are under the DoTC.

Among the major projects presented are the Light Rail Transit (LRT) line 1 extension from Baclaran to Cavite and the LRT 2 extension from Santolan, Pasig to Masinag, Antipolo; the development of international airports in Puerto Princesa, Laguindigan in Misamis Oriental and Panglao, Bohol; the development of ports in Davao; and roll-on, roll-off (Ro-Ro) projects linking China with either the Subic or Batangas ports.

Roxas also announced a plan to reconfigure the controversial NorthRail train line—a Chinese-funded project that was previously suspended by the DoTC due to cost overruns and other contract anomalies.

According to Roxas, the Chinese government has agreed to renegotiate the project.

The reconfigured contract will be the most ambitious among the projects, with an estimated cost of P108 billion. It will give the country its first high-speed train line.

“Instead of the current Caloocan to Mabalacat configuration, we will extend the line from the Manila Central Business District all the way to Clark Freeport, Pampanga,” Roxas said. “We will make sure that what is built is what we originally intended: A high-speed, reliable rail link that will cut travel time between Manila and Pampanga to one hour.”

Roxas added that all the projects would accelerate “the development of the countryside,” making it easier for people in provinces to go to Metro Manila.

Most of the projects are still in their early stages—with feasibility studies just being started—and it may take some time before the contracts are put on the auction block for investors, he said. But most, if not all, should be completed by 2016.

Roxas said the government would have the option of funding the projects through public-private partnerships (PPP), official development assistance or loans from abroad, the government budget or a combination of all.

The priority, he said, would be to get the lowest costs possible.

This is a departure from the administration’s previous stance that all projects should be done through PPPs, wherein the government will spend nothing.

The MBC said its main concern was that this switch in policy direction could result in further delays in the implementation of projects, seen to be key in the state’s efforts to generate jobs and reduce poverty.

But Roxas assured MBC and MAP members that the implementation of the projects was on track. Still, the official did not give a definite timetable.

Roxas added that contracts would be auctioned off transparently to ensure that the final deals would not be tainted by corruption.

“We are resolved to get the biggest bang out of every peso spent—no overpricing, no fancy specs that we don’t need,” Roxas said.

Aside from the infrastructure projects, Roxas also detailed key reforms in the regulation of the many forms of public transport being supervised by the DOTC.

He said the department would start on the regulatory structure of the country’s maritime sector through investments in satellite-based signaling systems and other radar technologies to make sea travel safer.

“There is no more important way to measure our performance at DoTC than by our safety score for our passengers,” he said. “We intend to make safety standards enforcement a religious vow in the department.”