Public-Private Coalition lists P160-billion 'ready-to-go' projects

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Public-Private (PPP) Coalition for infrastructure projects has made a list of “ready-to-go” projects costing a total of nearly P160 billion that may be implemented by the Aquino administration immediately under its planned public and private sector partnership.

According to documents prepared by the Research, Education & Institutional, Development Foundation Inc. (REID), a member of the PPP Coalition, the government can start with four or five “ready-to-go” projects.

These include the P13.9-billion Cavite-Laguna Expressway, a second terminal of the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) in Clark, Pampanga amounting to P7.6 billion and a high-speed rail from DMIA to central business districts amounting to P138 billion. These projects have a combined cost of P159.5 billion.

The Coalition, composed of the Philippine Constructors Association, Bankers Association of the Philippines, Investment Houses Association of the Philippines and REID Foundation, made another list consisting “pipeline projects.”

These include various water projects such as Bulacan treated bulk water supply project amounting to P5.5 billion, the Marikina River basin sewer system, amounting to P7 billion and the San Juan River basin sewer system amount-ing to P14 billion and the Boracay water and sewerage system amounting to P1.1 billion.

The Coalition said the next step is for the government to approve the list of projects and to recommend to President Benigno Aquino III the creation of a PPP Infrastructure Council to review major policy issues and uncork interagency bottlenecks.

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima has said the Aquino administration is considering proposals from multilateral agencies to set up an entity that would handle the planned multi-billion dollar infrastructure fund.

Purisima said the financing entity would be patterned after India’s Infrastructure Development Finance Co. Ltd. (IDFC).

IDFC, according to information posted on its website, is India’s leading integrated infrastructure finance player providing end-to-end infrastructure financing and project implementation services.

The idea is for the entity to handle funds that would be pooled from investors, fund managers, and other multilateral agencies to finance various infrastructure projects in the Philippines.

The fund would finance infrastructure projects under the proposed Private-Public Partnership announced by President Aquino during his State of the Nation Address last June.

The end-goal, he said, is to enable the government to put in place the necessary infrastructure that would make the country attractive to investors.

Faced with a budget deficit that is projected to hit P325 billion this year, the Aquino administration wants to use government funds mainly for social services and tap private sector help for needed infrastructure projects.