The fate of the three-year rolling infrastructure plan (TRIP) hangs in the balance, as the Duterte administration is keen on reviewing the plan before it is implemented.
The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said the TRIP is the modified version of the Comprehensive and Integrated Infrastructure Program (CIIP). The CIIP is a consolidated list of all infrastructure programs of the government.
The Neda initially estimated the government will require at least P3 trillion between 2017 and 2019 to finance ongoing and new infrastructure projects. The TRIP’s 2017 budget has already been included in the proposed national budget.
“We will review the three-year rolling infrastructure plan, [as] the 2016 budget is still [President] Aquino’s budget. The Duterte administration cannot fund projects that are not authorized by Congress in the 2016 budget.
“That would violate the Supreme Court’s decision on the Disbursement Acceleration Program,” incoming Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno told the BusinessMirror.
Neda Deputy Director General for Programming Rolando G. Tungpalan said the agency has yet to present the TRIP to President-elect Duterte and incoming Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia. Neda officials said the TRIP will be finalized toward the end of July in time for President-elect Duterte’s first State of the Nation Address.
In May documents obtained by the BusinessMirror showed that infrastructure spending under the TRIP could reach P1.15 trillion in 2017. The largest amount of projects submitted came from the Department of Public Works and Highways, which proposed P449.75 billion for fiscal year 2017.
Other government agencies that submitted the most projects were the Department of Education with P150.57 billion and government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) with P113.03 billion.
The list of GOCCs that submitted projects for funding under the TRIP included the National Irrigation Administration, Local Water Utilities Administration, Philippine National Railways and the Light Rail Transit Authority, among
others. The list of outcomes from the 2017 to 2019 TRIP include transportation facilities, such as roads and railways; water projects, such as irrigation and water supply; energy projects; and social infrastructure, such as classrooms and health facilities.
Under transport, the TRIP aims to finance 10,699.53 kilometers of new national roads to help ease congestion and improve connectivity and mobility issues. It will also fund the rehabilitation and improvement of 15,130.19 km of national and local roads.
