This is an article repost.
A veteran lawmaker has filed a measure seeking to enhance the public-private partnership for infrastructure development in the country by creating a legal framework that protects property rights and is committed to the enforcement of contracts.
House Bill 4919, to be known as the “Public-Private Partnership in Infrastructure Development Act of 2008” authored by Deputy Speaker Raul Daza (1st District, Northern Samar) adheres to the declared policy of the state to recognize the indispensable role of the private sector as the main engine for national growth and development.
“The State provides the most appropriate incentives to mobilize private resources for the purpose of financing the construction, operation and maintenance of infrastructure and development projects normally financed and undertaken by the government,” Daza said.
Daza said Republic Act 7718 otherwise known as the “Philippine Build and Operate Transfer Law (BOT Law)” was enacted to encourage private participation in public infrastructure investments.
Daza said following the law’s enactment, the BOT program was able to generate a number of projects in the power and transport sectors in the early 1990’s. “However, the government’s tight fiscal situation along with the voiding of a large airport terminal project dampened the interest in the BOT program,” Daza added.
“To rekindle the private interest in the PPP and to restore confidence in the BOT law, profound policy reforms must be made. The legal and judicial system must be conducive to contractual performance, to fair and timely adjudication of any contractual dispute that may emerge and must be supported by a substantive and operationally efficient set of implementing rules and regulations (IRR),” Daza said.
Daza emphasized that it is also important that governmental Implementing Agencies (IAs) and local government units (LGUs) must acquire the necessary technical, legal and financial expertise to be able to identify, design, implement and monitor PPP projects. Regulating bodies included in the implementation of such PPP projects must be credible, transparent, accountable and technically competent.
“Taking the various concerns at this stage about the existing BOT law, this BOT measure is guided by the principles aligned with the making of PPP a state policy in infrastructure development, upholding competitive bidding as the core of the government procurement policy,” Daza said.
Under the measure, the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) is mandated to implement the rules and regulations of the Act and the NEDA Board, through the Investment Coordination Committee (ICC) is directed to request the national agencies and local government units to submit program reports of PPP projects.
A government agency or LGU that has secured approval for a project as provided for in the measure shall be responsible for the implementation, management and supervision of the project. Regular monitoring reports shall be submitted to the ICC for its information.
Further, regular auditing shall be conducted following Commission on Audit (COA) guidelines and reports may be required from the respective government agency, LGU or COA as deemed necessary.
Under the bill, a build-operate-and-transfer Center shall be established to be attached as a unit in the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to be known as the Public Partnership Center (PPC). It shall promote and market the government’s private-sector investment program, including the formulation and implementation of a promotion and marketing plan, providing service as an information center for investors/developers as well as for government agencies.
The PPC shall participate in the technical working group (TWG) that may be established by the IRR Committee and perform business development and investment-related activities in support of the other functions and mandate of the DTI.
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By: Lorelei V. Castillo, MRS-PRIB
Source: www.congress.gov.ph, Aug,.14, 2011
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