THE process of tendering key infrastructure deals is “too tedious” that the previous administration found it difficult to fast-track the system, but with the promise of reforms, the Duterte administration may find itself winning the interest of more investors.
Currently, the transportation department has eight infrastructure deals that were left in limbo by its previous officials. These projects— ranging from airports and seaports to railways—have a cumulative value of P127.5 billion.
Former Transportation Undersecretary for Operations Edwin R. Lopez said the new administration must craft meaningful ways on how to address the issues that have caused a huge backlog in the award and implementation of public-private partnership (PPP) projects.
“These projects, because of [their] technical complexity and several components, do take a while to be rolled out,” he told the BusinessMirror. “The new administration should find solutions to make acquisition less laborious.”
Lopez said the transport department must engage interested parties and ease bidding rules to receive interest from more parties. “We do have very strict rules and many requirements that cause some bidders to lose interest,” he said.
The largest of the pending deals is the P108.2-billion contract for the development of five airports around the country. The program aims to address the growing demand for air connectivity around tourist spots and business hubs.
The previous administration had decided to bundle the contracts into two to make it more enticing to investors.
The first package consists of the Bacolod-Silay Airport (P20.26 billion) and Iloilo Airport (P30.40 billion), while the second bundle is composed of the New Bohol or Panglao Airport (P2.34 billion), Laguindingan Airport (P14.62 billion) and Davao Airport (P40.57 billion).
The other deals in limbo are the P19-billion deal for the modernization of the Davao Sasa Wharf, which aims to improve trade access to Mindanao and the Philippines by providing a dedicated containerized port in the region; the P298-million project for the modernization of the Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board’s information-technology infrastructure; and the contract to operate and maintain the Light Rail Transit Line 2 (LRT 2).
The DOTC enjoys the lion’s share of the P1.5-trillon pipeline of PPP deals “giftwrapped” by the previous government to the new. It also has the most number of projects awarded.
Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade said the “presumption of regularity” edict will be applied on projects that were awarded during the past administration.
“We have to move forward with the contracts that were signed and executed [by the previous leadership],” he said.
Out of the five awarded transport deals during the past administration, only the automatic fare- collection system was completed. The others are in different phases of construction.
Case in point is the LRT Line 1 Cavite Extension deal, which was awarded to Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC).
Under the deal, the LRMC group, jointly led by the Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and Ayala Corp., will be responsible for the extension of the oldest urban light-railway train line in Southeast Asia to Bacoor, Cavite.
The company is currently at the preconstruction stage, while, at the same time, renovating and upgrading the whole system. It promised to let passengers “feel the real benefit of an improved train system” by 2017.
Construction for a new terminal at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport is ongoing, as well. Megawide Construction Corp. has promised to meet its June 2018 target completion date.
Other projects that have ongoing construction and preconstruction activities are the Integrated Transport System South and Southwest facilities.
Mia Rodriguez