The Duterte administration has approved over P4 trillion worth of projects as of May 2021, National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Board documents showed.
Based on Neda Board approvals as of May 2021, approvals reached around P4.12 trillion, an increase of over 8 percent from the approvals as of February 2021 pegged at around P3.8 trillion.
However, based on the data, only one new project was added to the list of approvals, raising the total number of approvals to 92 in May from 91 in February.
The project that was added to the list was the Philippine Rural Development Project Retrofitting and the $280-million Second Additional Financing with Euro 18.3 million European Union co-financing Grant.
“The retrofitted AF2 [additional financing 2] will support programs and projects that will benefit farmers and fisherfolk who are vulnerable during crises and calamities, and contribute to the overall food resiliency of the country,” Neda documents stated.
“It will complement the government’s recovery initiatives under the ALPAS Kontra Covid-19 Program, and support the creation of jobs in rural areas under the new normal,” the documents added.
The project has four components such as the Local and National Level Planning (I-PLAN); Infrastructure Development (I-BUILD); Enterprise Development (I-REAP); and Implementation Support (I-SUPPORT).
Neda said the EU co-financing grant would further strengthen the project’s engagement in Mindanao. It will complement the AF2 in supporting and facilitating the implementation of infrastructure projects.
It will also provide capacity building activities for local government units (LGU) and farmer and fisherfolk organizations, including women and indigenous people (IP) communities, through engagement in viable agri-based enterprises.
Meanwhile, the inter-agency Investment Coordination Committee (ICC) pipeline now includes over a billion pesos worth of projects for evaluation as of May.
Based on the ICC Project Appraisal Monitor (IPAM), around 43 projects worth P1.77 trillion are now listed for evaluation by the ICC Technical Board (TB) and ICC Cabinet Committee (Cabcom) as of May 15.
The data showed P1.39 trillion covering 26 projects are being evaluated by the ICC-TB, while P379.03 billion are being evaluated by the ICC-Cabcom.
However, the list only included locally and Official Development Assistance (ODA)-funded projects. The list provided by Neda did not include the Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects being evaluated.
Of all the projects, the largest one is the North-South Commuter Railway System, which is under review by the ICC-TB costing P777.55 billion.
The NSCR project is composed of NSCR Phase 1, which is a 37.9-kilometer (km) standard gauge railway from Malolos to Tutuban; NSCR Extension or PNR North 2, a 50.7- km railway from Malolos to Clark International Airport; and NSCR Extension or PNR Commuter, a 56.5-km railway from Solis in Tutuban to Calamba, Laguna.
“[The project is] under Neda review [and] with pending agency submission of response to Neda letter dated 15 March 2021,” the documents stated.
The project with the least total cost of P938.7 million is the Super Maximum Security Compound of the Bureau of Corrections, which is also under ICC-TB evaluation.
The project involves the construction of dormitory buildings to accommodate 2,400 inmates that includes an infirmary, visiting area, food preparation and distribution area, command center, Attorney’s Lounge, conference room, and administrative office.
Neda said the project would be equipped with Integrated Security Solutions composed of CCTV Surveillance System with Facial Recognition, Barrier Gates at Entry and Exit Points, Underground Camera and Barrier Gates for Vehicle Inspection, Turn-style Gate Access System, Walk-through Body Scanner, Signal Jamming System, Aerial Drone and Aerial Drone Jammer, UHF Handheld Radio, and Inmate Tracking System.
“[The project is] under Neda review [and] with pending agency submission of response to Neda letter dated 10 March 2021,” Neda documents stated.
In terms of the projects for review by the ICC-Cabcom, the largest is the Laguna Lakeshore Road Network Project Phase 1 and the project with the lowest cost is the request for change in scope for the Capacity Building to Foster Competition Project by the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC).
Based on the data, the Laguna Lakeshore Road Network Project Phase 1, which costs P175.7 billion, involves the construction of a 376-km primary road with an 11.8-km viaduct from Lower Bicutan in Taguig City to Tunasan, Muntinlupa City, and a 25.8-km shoreline viaduct and embankment from Tunasan, Muntinlupa City to Calamba City.
It aims to reduce transportation constraints and more convenient travel to various tourist and business destinations in Laguna, Rizal, Quezon, and Batangas.
The PCC project, meanwhile, costs P1.41 billion. It is a long-term capacity building plan to support strengthening institutional and individual capacities of PCC and other agencies with competition-related mandates.
“For ICC-CC action pending agency compliance to the ICC-TB instructions during its 15 April 2021 meeting,” Neda said.
The Neda Board is the country’s premier social and economic development planning and policy coordinating body primarily responsible for formulating continuing, coordinated and fully integrated social and economic policies, plans and programs. The powers and functions of the Neda reside in the Neda Board.
The ICC consists of the Secretary of Finance as chairman; the Secretary of Socioeconomic Planning and Neda Director-General, as co-chairman; and the Executive Secretary, the Cabinet Secretary, the Secretaries of Department of Budget and Management, Energy, Trade and Industry and Governor of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas as members.
It evaluates the fiscal, monetary, and balance of payments; implications of major national projects; and recommends to the President the timetable of their implementation on a regular basis; This is similar to trading such as forex trading.
The inter-agency committee also advises the President on matters related to the domestic and foreign borrowings program and submits a status of the fiscal, monetary and balance of payments implications of major national projects.
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