Amendments to BOT law pushed

The Build-Operate-Transfer law still needs to be amended, despite its implementing rules having been recently revised, to better enable the government to push public-private partnership projects (PPPs) for its infrastructure program, according to Secretary Arsenio Balisacan of the National Economic and Development Authority.

Balisacan said the recent updating and improvement of the implementing rules of the current BOT law — done to make investing in projects more attractive to the private sector while ensuring that these meet the interest of the public sector — was not enough to enable PPPs to flourish.

“We need to do much more than that (so) we are pushing for the amendment of the BOT law…to improve the governance of PPP by removing the obstacles and challenges of doing PPP, and clarifying the rules of the game,” the chief economic planner said.

The amended implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the BOT law took effect in October 2022. These were intended to foster PPP initiatives in sectors such as manufacturing, tourism, business process outsourcing, and the creative industry as well as in logistics, transportation, telecommunications, and water.

Even then, business groups like the Makati Business Club are thankful to Balisacan for working quickly to have the IRR revised as soon as he was named Neda chief in July 2022.

“His revisions restore the attractiveness of PPPs,” MBC chair Edgar Chua said. “I know everyone [at MBC] thank you for your quick action on that, Secretary.”

At a forum organized and hosted by the MBC held on Feb. 23, Balisacan said the Marcos Jr. administration’s Cabinet-level infrastructure team is perusing a list of 3,700 projects that would be lined up in the next five years, which will be presented to the President and the National Economic and Development Authority Board for approval on March 9.

However, Balisacan added that the push for PPP will not have a clear path until the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) law was amended in order to further clarify how PPP projects should be done.

“Indicatively, there are 3,700 projects worth P15 trillion for the medium-term,” he said. “Among these, there are about 98 projects (identified for PPP) worth about P3 trillion.”

According to the PPP Center of the Philippines, a string of projects that are being pursued through the PPP scheme include the recently approved $55-million, 300-bed Cancer Center for the University of the Philippines- Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH).

Other big-ticket projects in the pipeline include a $440-million 700-bed hospital facility for UP-PGH, agro-industrial information technology parks at the UP Los Baños campus in Laguna, and the $240-million San Ramon Newport seaport at the Zamboanga City special economic zone.

Also included are the operations and maintenance component of the Metro Manila Subway project ($55 million) and the Manila-Calamba leg of the North-South Commuter Railway project ($67 million).