MANILA, Philippines – The local government of Parañaque is pushing for the opening of the P1.58 billion Bagong Nayong Pilipino-Entertainment City along Manila Bay under the government’s public-private partnership (PPP) program.
Paranaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez urged the incoming administration of president-elect Rodrigo Duterte to approve the five PPP projects lined up by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), including the Bagong Nayong Pilipino project.
“The P1.58 billion Bagong Nayong Pilipino covers the development of a tourism-oriented facility that will showcase Filipino culture,” said Olivarez.
The PPP project is a multi-billion dollar project of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. It will cover 120 hectares of reclaimed land at the southeastern portion of the Manila Bay in Parañaque.
It is also a registered economic zone under the Philippine Economic Zone Authority.
When completed, the project could boost tourist arrivals in the country to over three million annually and generate 450,000 new jobs, a local government official said.
“For the city of Parañaque, this means not only more jobs for our residents and more revenues for the local government. More importantly, this means we are getting closer to becoming one of the biggest tourist and entertainment destinations not only in the Philippines, but also in the entire Asia-Pacific region,” said city administrator Ding Soriano.
The Bagong Nayong Pilipino-Entertainment City is one of the five PPP projects collectively valued at more than P100 billion. Other projects are the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Development project, Batangas-Manila Natural Gas Pipeline project, Plaridel Bypass Toll Road and the Philippine Travel Center Complex.
These PPP projects have already been approved by the investment coordination committee or ICC, and are awaiting NEDA Board approval, according to the PPP center.
The approval of the NEDA Board, chaired by the president, is the last hurdle needed before a project can be offered for bidding.
Under the plan, the Bagong Nayong Pilipino-Entertainment City will house an integrated resort with a world-class theme park, casinos, residential areas, shopping malls, fine dining restaurants, and other leisure activities.
Earlier, the local government of Paranaque also asked the incoming Duterte administration to push through with the proposed $13 billion international airport in central Manila Bay.
Olivarez said building the airport in central Manila Bay or the waterfront reclamation project known as the “Freedom Island” would be ideal and it would be within Paranaque’s territorial jurisdiction.