Philippines Sees PPP Deal Rush as Term Ends

By Justine Irish D. Tabile, Senior Reporter THE Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center expects its P3.07-trillion project pipeline to grow further towards the end of the current administration, with implementing agencies seeking to get more projects approved and awarded before the leadership transition. “The general answer is yes, because we are halfway through this administration,” PPP Center Executive Director Rizza Blanco-Latorre told BusinessWorld, when asked about the growth of the pipeline. “Definitely, a lot of implementing agencies, both national and local, would want their projects to be processed, approved, and awarded before the end of this administration to make sure that we have a live contract once there’s a change in government,” she added. As of Sept. 7, there were 266 PPP projects in the pipeline with an estimated project cost of P3.07 trillion. Of these, 180 projects will be implemented by the National Government, while 86 will be undertaken by local government units. Ms. Blanco-Latorre said the center expects interest to grow in emerging industries, particularly waste-to-energy and solid waste management. “There is so much interest we are seeing now on waste-to-energy so we have been discussing that; of course we are looking into school infrastructure. But most of the projects are in emerging sectors like solid waste management,” she said. Transport projects are expected to remain the largest segment by project value, she added, given their high capital requirements. As of Monday, there were 47 property development projects in the pipeline, 46 maritime projects and 27 energy projects. Railway projects accounted for the largest share of the pipeline by value at P1.97 trillion, followed by land transport projects (P300.7 billion) and property development projects (P221.89 billion). Growth is also expected from unsolicited projects, amid increasing interest from private-sector proponents, Ms. Blanco-Latorre said. “For solicited it is the implementing agency that initiates the work, while for unsolicited it is the private sector, and obviously we are outnumbered by the private sector. So, we are receiving a lot of unsolicited proposals from the private sector, even at the local level,” she added. As of Sept. 7, 216 projects, or 81.2% of the pipeline, had been initiated by the government, with a combined value of P1.98 trillion. The remaining 50 projects, worth P1.09 trillion, were initiated by the private sector.