A private foundation is proposing amendments to government bidding procedures for infrastructure projects.
The Research, Education & Institutional, Development (REID) Foundation Inc, a member of the Philippine Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Coalition for infrastructure projects, said the changes are needed for PPP projects to be more attractive to investors. The PPP is a strategy of the Aquino administration to finance government projects like infrastructure and basic services through the assistance of the private sector.
“We are proposing to government to create another sector under the BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) to (exclusively) deal with joint ventures,” REID Foundation president Enrico Basilio said.
“We are also proposing to increase the time frame for the Swiss challenge to 90 days or better yet benchmark it to the world standard of 120 days,” Basilio said.
The change, he noted, will give possible investors more time to study projects.
REID is proposing to first adopt the changes on high-impact transportation infrastructure projects under the PPP such as the Cavite-Laguna tollway, C-6 Expansion, Light Rail Transit (LRT) 1 and LRT 2 east and west connections and Clark Terminal 2.
A total of P127 billion worth of projects under the PPP scheme has been earmarked to fund eight to 10 infrastructure projects by next year. The projects include the continued interconnection of the LRT system and the Metro Rail Transit; implementation of phase 2 of the LRT project; upgrade of the new Bohol Airport; Puerto Princesa Airport; the North Luzon and South Luzon Expressways link; the new Daraga Airport; construction of a city terminal at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport; and privatization of Laguindingan Airport in Misamis Oriental.
