Posted on March 03, 2015 09:59:00 PM
By Imee Charlee C. Delavin, Reporter
AMID CALLS from business groups to hasten the passage of amendments to the decades-old Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Law, a House leader said the proposal may secure congressional approval by June.
“Floor deliberations, approval when we return April, May and then June,” he added.
The seven-member Joint Foreign Chambers (JFC) in the Philippines, in a position paper submitted to a House of Representatives panel last week, pressed for urgent action on the BOT law amendments, citing the need to further strengthen the framework of the government’s centerpiece infrastructure program in order to eliminate “hindrances to the implementation of critical public projects.”
Both the government and business groups have tagged BOT reform as a priority amid the various procedural delays and conflicts that have stood in the way of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects since the program’s inception in 2010.
House Speaker Feliciano R. Belmonte, Jr., for his part promised to fast-track the approval of the BOT Law.
“Surely we want to pass the needed economic reforms including the BOT law at the soonest time,” he said separately in a text message reply last week, adding that they target to approve the proposal by the end of the second regular session of the 16th Congress.
“We think [we can approve] by then, but we cannot be that sure,” he added.
The second regular session of the 16th Congress will run from May 4 to June 11. The Senate and the House of Representatives will resume sessions after the President’s final State of the Nation Address in July, signaling the start of the third regular session of the 16th Congress.
In the Senate, the Committee on Public Works headed by Senator Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., has been conducting hearings on the proposal although no timetable yet has been given for approving the measure. The committee is set to resume talks on the BOT Law amendments next week after its deliberations on Tuesday.
Senate President Franklin M. Drilon, in his keynote address at the fourth Arangkada Assessment Forum yesterday, highlighted the Senate’s commitment to push for the approval of economic measures that would further promote the country as a good business destination.
The Senate leader said Congress would approve the BOT Law within the year, and forward it to President Benigno S. C. Aquino III for signature.
The consolidated version of the amendments to the BOT Law, which is set to be approved by the House panel on public works, will firm up the institutional standing of the PPP Center and allow joint venture (JV) contracts as part of possible PPP project agreements. PPP participants will also be exempt from paying real property tax and transfer taxes, such as capital gains tax and documentary stamp tax, and all local taxes in the case of projects of national significance.
Investment incentives will also be offered on all infrastructure projects worth P1 billion or more, in order to attract more potential private sector partners.
Asked to comment on the specific provisions in the consolidated proposed amendments to the current BOT law, John D. Forbes, senior adviser of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines said via text: “Marked improvement in roll-out of PPP projects and transparency of the process show that the mechanism and processes instituted by the PPP Center are working and must be included in the law.”
“Domestic and foreign investors want uniformity and consistency in the application of the law, so the inclusion of JV is a welcome amendment. [Also] It’s not contractors, per se, who are exempted from tax. The proposed exemption from real property tax applies to projects of national significance classified as such by the President, after recommendation of the NEDA-ICC (National Economic and Development Authority-Investment Coordination Committee and consultation with the DILG (Department of Interior and Local Government,” he added.
Mr. Forbes added that infrastructure projects “are expected to create new jobs and have a positive, nationwide economic impact.”
As to investment thresholds, he said it is “better for NEDA Board or ICC to determine the proper thresholds.”
“Stating a specific threshold amount in law, can render it obsolete within a few years. Finally, right of way valuation must be uniform across any project, not just PPP,”he said.
The current BOT Law was enacted in 1990 and last amended in 1994.
The JFC, in its letter to Mr. Cosalan’s committee said: “the private sector is cognizant of the great need for massive infrastructure investments to support and boost the growth of the Philippine economy.”
“We recognize that the government’s Public-Private Partnership Program provides the framework by which infrastructure development can be accelerated and properly tendered to interested and capable parties,” the group, composed of the American, Australia-New Zealand, Canadian, European, Japanese and South Korean chambers and the Philippine Association of Multinational Companies Regional Headquarters, Inc.,which altogether have invested some $30 billion in the Philippines, said in a two-page letter.
“We call on government to swiftly enact the amendments to the BOT Law that will institutionalize the PPP Center and its processes, which we believe will further strengthen our PPP framework and prevent hindrances to the implementation of critical public projects,” the group further said.
Meanwhile, Malacañang said it will continue working with Congress to push for the enactment of its priority agenda which include a number of economic bills.
“We will continue to work closely with Congress in pushing for the approval of the amendments of the BOT law and other priority economic measures,” Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma, Jr., said in a text message.
Comment here