NATIONAL government projects that are currently being implemented will not be disrupted by the enactment of the Bangsamoro Organic Law, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said on Thursday.
NEDA said many ongoing projects in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) will likely “continue as they are now.”
“Those that are currently ongoing, especially those funded by loans, most likely we will just allow them to continue as they are now. In fact, many of the ARMM projects carried out by the Public Works (department) have a MoA (memorandum of agreement) between national public works and local public works,” NEDA Undersecretary Rolando G. Tungpalan said in a briefing in Pasig City.
“The implementation arrangement will just continue for a time, but those that have yet to be started, I guess it is where we have to discuss how it will be funded and how it will be affected,” he added.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia, however, said that although he expects the impact to be minimal, NEDA has yet to study the local economic implications of the organic law, as it is one of the fastest-growing regions in the country, and takes up a large share of public spending relative to the size of its economy.
“We will have to review our plans in terms of the new landscape. We haven’t done that yet because the law has yet to be implemented. But there will be some changes, which shouldn’t be too drastic,” Mr. Pernia said.
The region “would have more say, but there will still be collaboration between the new Bangsamoro region and the national government,” he added.
According to NEDA data, ARMM’s economy grew 7.3% in 2017, faster than the national average of 6.7%. NEDA added that the region has the highest public investment-to-gross regional domestic product ratio among all the regions at 17.51%, well above the national average of 6.28% and Metro Manila’s 4.21%.
ARMM will receive 1,340 projects in the medium-term, worth P63.24 billion, or 0.82% of the total P7.74-trillion public investment program. This compares with the National Capital Region’s 320 projects worth P964.68 billion, representing 12.47% of the overall investment plan.
The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) will have its own government with expanded powers of taxation.
NEDA said it is preparing a list of regional projects with the potential to be structured as Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs).
“We at the Regional Development Offices, we are preparing something to encourage more PPPs in the regions, even small projects. We will be able to present this as… PPP opportunities that the private sector might very attractive,” NEDA Undersecretary Adoracion M. Navarro said.
This initiative will supplement the knowledge centers of the PPP Center that were launched in January.
“What we would like to happen is for the business sectors to look at these projects, because they can best judge the PPP potential. We have to subject them to an assessment to the private sector,” she said.
She added that NEDA will conduct capacity-building for those local government units (LGUs) whose ability to implement projects is deficient.
“There are LGUs which are capable of implementing some infrastructure projects, there are areas which need help,” she said.
However, Ms. Navarro noted that it is not only local government who faces capacity issues.
“It’s not only LGUs but also private sector in those regions. There are contractors who are really the problem. Let us not assume that only LGUs need improvement, but also private sector… civil society groups have a role in the monitoring of the implementation of projects,” she said.
She said that of over 11,000 local sub-projects carved out of the 4,490 medium-term government projects, about 2.45% were suspended and 0.32% terminated, or in the process of termination.
“In fact line agencies are starting to weed out contractors that have fallen behind schedule of their own account… so there’s a cleaning up to make sure that we are able to deliver on time, and of course with quality, the various infrastructure projects,” Mr. Tungpalan said. — Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan
