DOTC vows to wipe out transpo backlog in 10 yrs

MANILA, Philippines - The Aquino administration aims wipe out the backlog in transportation infrastructure in the Philippines over the next five to 10 years.

“We envision erasing the backlog in transportation infrastructure over the next five to 10 years. In such a way that the infrastructure we build will meet the country’s needs for the 10 to 20 years that follow,” Transportation Secretary Joseph Abaya said.

Abaya pointed out that fairness, openness, and transparency are the hallmarks of bidding and procurement processes under the Aquino administration.

“We realize how any crack in the trust between the public and the private sectors will be difficult to recover from if there’s strain on the relationship. If we do any act or make any decision which would sow distrust or shake investor confidence in our processes and practices, we may lose all potential bidders for our future projects altogether,” he said.

Abaya made the statement amid the slew of cases filed against the government with regard to the bidding of public private partnership (PPP) projects including the proposed P1.4 billion Metro Rail Transit and Light Rail Transit (MRT-LRT) common station, the P35.4 billion Cavite-Laguna expressway project, the P65-billion LRT1 Cavite extension project, the P3.8-billion MRT3 capacity expansion project, among others.

“Thankfully, despite all these controversies which have been raised against the bidding out of our projects at the transportation department, numerous companies – both foreign and local – continue to participate in our bids.  We take this as a vote of confidence in our work, both in terms of structuring projects, as well as in ensuring fairness, openness, and transparency in our bids,” he explained.

The PPP Center earlier reported that the DOTC has cornered 28 PPP projects worth P529.41 billion out of the 57 PPP projects in the pipeline.