NEDA Board approves 7 projects

MANILA, Philippines — The National Economic and Development Authority Board approved a slew of new infrastructure projects on Friday.

In a statement, the NEDA Board listed the seven new projects that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. gave the go-ahead. Completing the list, besides the Marcos Jr. administration’s first public-private partnership project, a cancer center that would be housed in the state-owned Philippine General Hospital, were these projects.

READ: Marcos Jr. admin's first PPP project is Cancer Center

The Department of Transportation’s P17 billion airport development project in Dumaguete. This would replace the existing airport, as the South Korean government will bankroll P13 billion of the project’s costs. 

The Department of Agriculture’s P6 billion development project will develop ancestral domains in Mindanao in a bid to improve the resiliency and agricultural productivity in the region. A P5.3 billion official development assistance loan from the World Bank will finance the project, with the rest of the costs bankrolled by local government units and the DA.

The Department of Public Works and Highways’ P20 billion floodway improvement project will develop the climate resilience of three major river basins in Mindanao. 

The NEDA Board approved the DOTR’s request for changes in scope, increase in costs, and extension of the implementation period for its modern busway system project in Metro Davao.

The MRT-3 rehabilitation project, which the DOTR requested an array of changes such as changes in scope, received the NEDA Board’s approval. This project looked to upgrade the railway to its originally-designed state, with some flexibility for capacity expansion.

The Marcos Jr. administration will use a P2.12 billion loan balance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency to improve the country’s Communications, Navigation, Surveillance/Air Traffic Management System. This will cover a feasibility study and maintenance contracts.