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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 17) – The change comes again for the government’s flagship infrastructure projects list, the fourth version in four years.
Officials from the National Economic and Development Authority announced Thursday that a new review of the priority projects is underway just months after the priority list was reviewed and approved in August.
“We are now recalibrating all 104 IFPs (Infrastructure Flagship Projects). Hopefully, by the end of this year, we will have a finalized list,” NEDA Undersecretary in Charge Jonathan Uy said at the end-of-year briefing of the agency.
“We are also considering digital technology as well as health infrastructure. Also, with the effects of typhoons, we are expanding flood control and water supply projects,” he added. “The recalibration also emphasizes that these projects must be feasible at least, started or even completed by the end of June 2022. Those are the most important considerations.”
The NEDA Board, which is chaired by President Rodrigo Duterte, approved a longer list of 104 projects worth ₱ 4.13 billion on August 19, up from the 2019 list of 100 projects costing ₱ 4.23 trillions.
The most recent list, which has many projects in Luzon and relies mainly on official development assistance and private sector funding, is the third version of the government’s high-cost priority items, which comes from the original list of 75 projects first revealed in 2016.
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Transportation projects, particularly railroads and the new $ 736 billion Bulacan International Airport, are the biggest items in the portfolio.
Acting Secretary for Socio-Economic Planning Karl Kendrick Chua said 26 of the 104 projects on the list are in the early stages of development and will be reviewed if they are still viable.
“The two main criteria for that are the preparation of the project and its substantial implementation within the term (of the president),” Chua said.
“Those 26 projects are being reviewed. If they can go through the final approval and preparation process in the next few weeks, they will remain. However, if they do not achieve those goals, then they may be parked. added.
State spending on public infrastructure has slowed this year due to the pandemic. Chua said contractors lost manpower when workers returned to their provinces at the height of the global health crisis, while foreign consultants were initially unable to fly into the country due to strict closures.
Typhoons and the requirement to comply with sanitary measures also slowed down projects.
Chua said an increase in spending is expected next year with $ 1.1 trillion or 5.4% of the budget allocated for infrastructure, while this year’s unfinished projects may continue in 2021 once the project of law that extends the useful life of the current national budget.
The Duterte administration previously promised to make his six-year reign the “Golden Age” of infrastructure in the country. However, some projects remain behind schedule less than two years from the end of Duterte’s term.
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