PNR lines up new railway project for PPP

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine National Railways (PNR) has proposed a new railway project for funding under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) scheme, said PPP Center executive director Andre Palacios.

He said the PNR proposal was received on July 5 although details of the projects were withheld pending a review by the technical working group (TWG) of the Investment Coordination Committee (ICC). The PPP Center acts as the secretariat to the ICC and endorses the project to the ICC-TWG.

Palacios said the proposal would be reviewed 15 days from the date of submission, after which the proposal would be forwarded to the ICC for approval.

The ICC-TWG composed of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretariat, the Department of Finance (DOF), Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environment Management Bureau (DENR-EMB) and the PPP Center undertakes specific aspects of the appraisal of a proposed PPP projects

These cover socio-economic appraisal, financial appraisal and risk allocation evaluation, environmental appraisal, commercial viability and bankability and value for money analysis, as well as legal and institutional appraisal.

This is the first PPP project to be proposed under the Duterte administration.

The new administration is intent on bidding out by the end of 2017 all stalled projects in the pipeline, many of which still require approval of the NEDA board or were placed under review.

Palacios said it is necessary to complete the procurement process for 17 projects, if not all would be sent back to the drawing board.

“If the new team – they’re now doing their review – is comfortable with our work, then they’ll be comfortable with proceeding where the old team left off,” he told reporters.

Palacios said several projects under procurement are still undergoing review with the fixed date for submission of bids.

These include the bundled contracts for the five regional airports bidding which was delayed and are now undergoing review by the Department of Transportation.

Breaking up the P123-billion Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike Project into two manageable components is still an option, said Palacios.

The projects involve building a flood control dike, a toll road and a reclamation project on Laguna Lake. Bidders snubbed the project in March because of perceived legal and political complexities.

The DPWH is considering to unbundle the construction of the dike from the project.

“The previous DPWH secretary said they would go back to the drawing board. They will study and hire international experts to study if the three components can go together or if two can go together. The study will also determine how the project will be financed,” he said.

Palacios said the NEDA ICC is convening on Aug 2, during which the approval of several projects may be discussed, among which is the approval for the P1.59 billion Civil Registry System Information Technology Project (CRS-ITP) which has a lone bidder last month.