MORE than half of the 100 flagship projects under the government’s infrastructure program is expected to be completed by 2022, while nearly half will be funded through official development assistance (ODA), according to a preliminary copy of the revised list was sent by Albay Rep. Jose Maria Clemente “Joey” S. Salceda to reporters on Friday.

The document showed 56 out of 100 projects under the revised list are targeted for completion by 2022.

The first phase of the Land Transportation Office’s (LTO) Road Transport Information Technology Infrastructure Project, worth P8 billion and funded through the national budget, is set to be completed this year.

Twelve projects are on track to be completed by 2020, namely:

Bonifacio Global City- Ortigas Center Link Road Project;

Cagayan de Oro Coastal Road;

Metro Manila Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Line 1 (Quezon Ave);

Clark International Airport Expansion Project Phase 1;

Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 2 East Extension;

Samar Pacific Coastal Road Project;

Angat Water Transmission Improvement Project;

National Government Data Center;

Luzon Bypass Infrastructure Project;

Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3;

Laguindingan Airport; and

Agus 3 Hydroelectric Power Project.

Sixteen projects are expected to be done by 2021. These are:

Malitubog-Maridagao Irrigation Project;

Chico River Pump Irrigation Project;

Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 7;

North Luzon Expressway-South Luzon Expressway Connector Road;

Boracay Circumferential Road;

Surallah-T’Boli-San Jose Road, South Cotabato;

MRT 3 Rehabilitation Project;

Cebu BRT;

Automated Fare Collection Clearing House;

LRT 6 Cavite Line A;

New Bohol (Panglao) International Airport;

Unified Grand Central Station;

Pasacao-Balatan Tourism Coastal Highway;

Reconstruction and Development Plan for Greater Marawi (JICA grant);

Taguig Integrated Terminal Exchange;

China Grant Bridges (Binondo-Intramuros Bridge and Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge).

Another 27 projects will be finished by 2022, include airports, expressways, and railways. These include:

Sangley Airport;

Bicol (New Legaspi International Airport);

Kalibo International Airport;

North South Commuter Railway;

LRT 1 Cavite Extension;

C-5 MRT 10;

Fort Bonifacio-Makati Sky Train;

MRT 11;

EDSA Greenways;

New Cebu International Container Port;

Mindanao Rail Project Phase 1;

Camarines Sur Expressway;

Metro Cebu Expressway;

Southeast Metro Manila Expressway;

C-5 Southlink;

SLEX Toll Road 4;

Sindangan-Bayog- Lakewood Road in Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga del Norte;

Davao City Coastal Road Project, including Bucana bridge;

Philippine Identification System;

Metro Manila Priority Bridges for Seismic Improvement Project;

Subic-Clark Railway;

Arterial Road ByPass Project Phase III (Plaridel Bypass);

Davao City Bypass Construction Project;

Panguil Bay Bridge;

Integrated Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation Measures in the Low-Lying Areas of Pampanga Bay;

Marawi Rehabilitation (China Grant), including bridge, bypass, the Grand Padian market and sports complex; and

New Clark City Phase 1, involving the National Government Administrative Center Phase 1 and the Filinvest Mixed Use Industrial Development Phase 1 site development.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte steps down from office on June 30, 2022.

The remaining 44 projects will be completed beyond 2022.

On the funding side, 49 projects worth P2.31 trillion will be financed by foreign-aided loans or ODA, while 29 projects are under public-private partnerships (PPP) with total government cost of P1.77 trillion.

Meanwhile, the remaining 22 projects worth P167.95 billion will be financed by the government through the national budget.

Among the PPP projects included in the list are the unsolicited proposal of Iloilo International Airport, Bacolod-Silay International Airport, the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway Extension Project and the Cavite-Tagaytay-Batangas Expressway Project, which are all now at advance stages of approval from the government.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia earlier announced that the total government’s cost for the infrastructure flagship program is estimated to reach P4.2 trillion, while the entire “Build, Build, Build” program, which consists of over 4,000 projects, is about P8.2 trillion.

Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) President and CEO and the presidential adviser for flagship programs Vivencio B. Dizon earlier said that the infrastructure flagship program is an “evolving list” as new projects that are “deemed of national and regional importance” will be included later on.

Earlier this month, the government officially announced that it reviewed and decided to revise the initial list of infrastructure flagship projects to 100 from 75, including more PPPs, while scrapping projects deemed not feasible.

The list was later on approved by the Investment Coordination Committee-Cabinet Committee and the Cabinet-level Committee on Infrastructure.

In an event this week, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez said that PPP projects should promote the interest of the public by “avoiding contracts that are disadvantageous to the government and a burden to the people with very high fees.”

“The vibrant participation so far from international and local companies in our Build, Build, Build program is proof that they have trust in the Duterte administration and in the transparent, fair and corruption-free bidding process implemented by the government,” Mr. Dominguez said. — Beatrice M. Laforga

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