The Aquino administration has approved P200.089 billion worth of new projects in the first quarter of 2015, according to documents obtained from the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).
The amount covers three new projects, namely, the P5.087-billion Panguil Bay Bridge Project; the P170.699-billion North-South Railway Project (NSRP)-South Line; and the P24.303-billion expansion of the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway Project (TPLEx).
Only one project, the Panguil Bay Bridge, is going to be locally funded or financed through the national budget. The NSRP and TPLEx projects will both be funded through the public-private partnership mode.
Neda documents showed that the Panguil Bay Bridge will connect the city of Tagub in Misamis Occidental and the municipality of Tubod in Lanao del Norte.
The NSRP South Line, meanwhile, aims to build a commuter railway between Tutuban, Manila and Calamba, Laguna. The railway will also have long-haul operations between Tutuban, Manila and Legaspi City, Albay.
The long-haul operations of the NSRP will now have a branch line to Calamba and Batangas, as well as Legaspi and Matnog, Sorsogon.
The expansion of the TPLEx, on the other hand, will add two more lanes to the project and provide a P1.986-billion government subsidy for the project.
The additional government subsidy increased the cost from P22.317 billion to around P24 billion.
Apart from these, there were projects that were reapproved by the Investment Coordination Committee (ICC) and the Neda Board in the first quarter of 2015.
These projects include the P25.556-billion North Luzon Expressway-South Luzon Expressway Connector Road Project. After the reapproval, the project will now be conducted via unsolicited mode and subjected to Swiss Challenge.
A Swiss challenge is a process by which other private groups could still come forward to make an offer to match the bid of the proponent.
Another project that was reapproved was the P35.426-billion Cavite-Laguna Expressway project. The granting of the reapproval allowed a single-stage qualification and approval of bid parameters for the project.
Cai U. Ordinario