The government would spend as much as P652.9 billion for new infrastructure projects next year to attain the economic targets of the Duterte administration under the Philippine Development Plan.
Documents obtained by the BusinessMirror showed that the amount allocated for the projects identified in the Public Investment Program (PIP) and the Three-year Rolling Infrastructure Program (TRIP) accounts for 17 percent of the P3.84-trillion budget ceiling set for next year.
The government is still in the process of finalizing the list of projects to be included in the PIP and the TRIP. However, the government earlier said it intends to spend at least P1 trillion a year on infrastructure projects.
“Tier 2 [are] high-priority proposals, implementation-ready and compliant to the PIP and TRIP guidelines,” a separate document stated.
“Tier 2 submissions will include proposals to realign resources between program/activity/projects, and proposals for scaling up of activities in terms of policy change not previously approved, such as scope, beneficiaries, design or implementation schedule,” it added.
The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) recently revived the TRIP, which is a modified version of the Comprehensive and Integrated Infrastructure Program (CIIP), the consolidated list of all infrastructure programs of the government.
Initially, the Neda estimated that the TRIP will cost the government some P7.89 trillion between 2018 and 2020. Data obtained by the BusinessMirror from the Neda showed that the projects included in the TRIP will cover 5,215 projects costing less than a billion pesos to over P2.5 billion each.
The bulk, or 4,889 projects, cost less than a P1 billion and would cost P311.02 billion, or 3.94 percent of the total amount. Projects costing P1 billion to P2.5 billion covering 149 projects worth P226.8 billion accounts for 2.87 percent.
While there were 177 projects worth more than P2.5 billion, these cost P7.35 trillion, or 93.18 percent of the entire TRIP.
In 2018 alone the Neda data showed some 2,822 projects will be financed under the TRIP. These will amount to P1.097 trillion, which would be in line with the government’s target annual spending for infrastructure projects.
The Duterte administration is aiming to spend a total of P8.2 trillion between 2017 and 2022 to usher in what Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno terms as the “golden age of infrastructure” in the Philippines.
The projects for 2018 are divided according to Tier 1 and Tier 2. Tier 1 projects are those that need to have continuous funding in the next three years while Tier 2 are “new” projects. The Neda said 348 Tier 1 projects would cost P805.64 billion, while Tier 2 projects would need a budget of P291.08 billion.