Purisima defends slow roll out of PPP projects

MANILA, Philippines – It was a long time coming for the Aquino administration to get its infrastructure program on track, but as its term reaches homestretch, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima has no regrets.

At the annual year opener of the Rotary Club of Makati last Thursday, Purisima said the government was, in the end, vindicated for its “slow but sure” rollout of infrastructure projects under its flagship public-private partnership (PPP) program.

“In the early stages of the Aquino administration, people were already getting impatient with the progress of our infrastructure program,” Purisima said in a speech, a copy of which was given to reporters.

“BBC News even talked about how after a year and a half in President Aquino’s term, ‘not a single project has got off the ground.’ But today, I have no regrets with taking the slow but sure way of delivering our infrastructure projects,” he said.

During its much-touted launch in November 2010, the PPP initiative disclosed a shortlist of 10 projects to be bid out in one year. Purisima was one of those officials who repeatedly committed to the figure to no avail.

A year after, only one project – the P2.01 billion Daang-Hari – South Luzon Expressway Link (now Muntinlupa-Cavite Expressway or MCEX) – was awarded to a private proponent with several of the initial PPP projects on the block postponed or replaced by other ones.

“Slowly, because we had to review our backlog infrastructure projects and make sure we do not get entangled in the same traps and mistakes that were made in previous administrations that has hindered these projects to become a reality,” Purisima said.

“Surely, (because) we didn’t wait for too long until our efforts were recognized by global institutions,” he added, citing recognitions from think tank Economist Intelligence Unit and UK-based publication Partnerships Bulletin in 2014.