Guinigundo urges government to go full-blast with PPP plan

MANILA, Philippines - A Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) official said the Aquino administration should already go full blast with its public-private partnership (PPP) program for infrastructure, saying that this would help boost economic growth.

“The government should already launch the PPP. The feasibility studies should have been done last year,” BSP Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo told reporters yesterday on the sidelines of The Asset 6th Philippine Forum.

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, for his part, said the Aquino administration is on track to launching 10 PPP projects this year even as the specific projects may be different from what was originally planned.

“We are counting at least 10 projects this year. The composition may change but what we want is to make it transparent,” Purisima said.

He said the Aquino administration is being very careful with PPP projects as it does not want to repeat mistakes done by previous administrations.

“We will prove them wrong,” Purisima said, referring to those who have been criticizing the government for the delay in the launch of the PPP projects.

Among the list of PPP projects include the contracts for the operation and maintenance (O&M) contract for Metro Rail Transit 3 and Light Rail Transit 1.

According to the Department of Transportation and Communications, the O&M runs for four years and will cover the 37.16-kilometer long rail mass transit system, which runs from Monumento in Caloocan to Taft Avenue in Pasay.

The PPP, considered as the Aquino administration’s centerpiece economic program, aims to tap private sector participation in 80 large-scale infrastructure projects worth P740 billion that will be undertaken from 2011 and beyond.

Under the PPP scheme, the government would be tapping the help of the private sector to fund the different projects.

Aside from the O&M contract of the MRT-3 and LRT-1, the five initial projects under the PPP program are the P1.6-billion Daang Hari-South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) Link Road Project; the P10.59-billion Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Expressway Phase II Project; and the ambitious P21-billion North Luzon Expressway-SLEX Connector Project.