ODA not faster after all

While there is still time, President Duterte’s economic managers should eat humble pie and admit that depending on official development assistance or ODA for Build Build Build isn’t proving to be faster after all. Chinese funding, for example, isn’t getting beyond promises.

Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia admitted during a news conference last week that there are delays in some projects funded by ODA.

“There’s also a lot of red tape on the side of ODA (donor-) countries. We thought that things would move fast, but they are not moving as fast as we expected,” he said.

Expressing impatience, Dr. Pernia said the government is prepared to shift to other financing modes if ODA projects continue to be stalled. “We were also discussing among ourselves, that if there are too many delays from a particular funding source, we are going to give them a deadline.”

Dr. Pernia was particularly referring to China. He said: “We haven’t had much experience with them in the past. We thought it would be fast…”

Pernia also explained the government is “extra careful” in dealing with funding from China due to the negative experiences of countries whose major projects were funded by China.

“Given the various experiences already felt by the other countries that dealt with China, we are even more cautious — we are extra careful — in having projects funded by China,” said Dr. Pernia.

Finance Secretary Sonny Dominguez, however, announced eyeing possible loan assistance from China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) for the construction of health care facilities, school buildings, and roads in the country.

China is already committed to finance the P4.37-billion Chico River Pump Irrigation Project with an interest rate of two percent per annum and 20-year maturity inclusive of a seven-year grace period.

China is supposed to finance the P10.9-billion New Centennial Water Source-Kaliwa Dam Project, the P151.3-billion Philippine National Railway South Commuter Line, the P57.6-billion Subic-Clark Railway, the P25.63-billion Davao City expressway, and the P27.16-billion Panay-Guimaras-Negros Inter-Island Bridge.
But implementation of projects financed by Japan ODA has also been slow. Actual groundbreaking will require Japanese technical experts to finalize plans and many of them are still busy building facilities for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Indeed, if our economic managers allowed ready-for- bidding PPP projects to proceed, like the bundled airports, they would have had something to show by now. Last I heard, DOTr has yet to do a new feasibility study for each of the five airports, something the private bidders already did.

The economic managers need a good reality check on BBB and the hindrances to the timely completion of vital projects. Only Secretary Pernia seems honest enough to tell us they have ODA problems. There are also other problems internal to the bureaucracy they can fix.

The LRT-1 extension to Cavite can’t proceed to actual construction because the wrong right-of-way was secured by the past administration.

LRT-2 extension to Masinag, Antipolo won’t be completed soon because of failed bids for the rail tracks, catenary, and signaling system. The estimated cost was circa 2012, failing to account for increased costs in the meantime. Budget Secretary Ben Diokno must look into it and give the additional budget required.

The NLEX-SLEX connector road project that will cut EDSA traffic by half is going on at a snail’s pace because of ROW problems in the Pandacan area, among others. DPWH Sec Mark Villar has not given it the kind of attention required. The DPWH ROW team is not enthusiastic because they say, they only inherited the assignment from the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB).

Sec. Pernia is claiming they will complete 32 of the 75 flagship projects by 2022. Pernia’s optimism is based on 16, or the 32 projects, having been given the final green light by NEDA to proceed to procurement stage.

It seems NEDA officials are under the impression that just because they were able to get some major projects approved relatively quickly, they have done their job and things will get going. But bottlenecks still exist on the ground. Talk about BBB is cheap.

Even unsolicited proposals where funding is not a problem, NEDA approval has not resulted in fast implementation. A case in point is the San Miguel proposal for a brand new international airport which is still awaiting Swiss challenge before getting final approval.

Yet, Sec. Pernia said “We must keep the infrastructure momentum and make sure there are no delays. We are determined to close the infrastructure gap.”

We can appreciate the good intentions expressed by Sec. Pernia but it is what happens on the ground that counts. We are seeing more bureaucratic inertia than momentum right now.

Unless we start to see some of their much ballyhooed flagship projects get started, it is difficult to believe they will be able to complete their projects before President Duterte ends his term in 2022. At the very least, cement needs curing time, so rushing at the homestretch isn’t possible.

So far, we are seeing the same narrative we saw with P-Noy’s Mar Roxas and Jun Abaya who had allowed valuable time to slip by. Indeed, two years of the Duterte watch has come and gone with no major infra project started by DOTr. They have yet to fast track private sector proposals that require no government funding or guarantees.

Hopefully the Duterte economic managers will not let hubris dictate their reaction to the very real problem of lack of speed in project execution. An early big shift to PPP may yet save the face of this administration that promised high and is in danger of delivering little.

Perhaps the only reason there seems to be an increase in infra expenditures is due to DPWH’s penchant for destroying still usable roads and repaving them, but delivering zero additional kilometers. Not only does this contribute to worsening traffic jams, but wastes scarce public resources.

Duterte, Robredo mark second year in office

By Arjay L. Balinbin, Reporter
and Charmaine A. Tadalan

ON PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte’s second year in office, the Filipino people now see more infrastructure and economic developments, laws signed, and social services, Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence “Bong” T. Go said.

“We have seen numerous infra[structure] and economic development projects, laws signed and implemented and social welfare, health and education programs put into place in the last two years,” Mr. Go said in a statement over the weekend.

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He added: “This is a testament of what President Duterte clearly wants for the country and for the Filipinos.”

Mr. Go also said the administration has “no ambitions of clinging to power, neither will [it] push for laws that would result (in) such.”

He said his principal “will always want a clean and graft-free government, and he has proven this many times by firing officials he appointed.”

In December last year, Mr. Duterte signed into law the first package of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN). The government expects to generate around P130 billion in revenues from its implementation this year to fund Mr. Duterte’s “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program as well as his government’s social services.

In May this year, Mr. Duterte signed into law the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018, which includes anti-red tape provisions and streamlines procedures and shortens processing time for government transactions.

In June, the President also signed into law the Balik Scientist Act, which offers incentives for eligible technology workers seeking to work in the Philippines, and the Philippine Mental Health Law that mandates the government to provide basic mental health services to Filipinos.

Also last month, Mr. Duterte witnessed the signing of the memorandum of agreement (MoA) between the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) and state and local universities and colleges to launch the implementation of Republic Act 10931, which provides for free tuition at these schools.

For her part, Vice-President Maria Leonor G. Robredo said more “laylayan” communities (communities in the outskirts) were reached during her second year in office.

“Ito iyong pinangako ko noong ako ay kumakandidato, noong aking inauguration-na iyong core talaga na magiging programa ng Office of the Vice-President (OVP) iyong pag-asikaso ng mga nasa laylayan ng lipunan. And over the course of two years, iyon iyong ginawa natin (This is what I promised during my candidacy, in my inauguration, that the core project of the Office of the Vice-President is to assist the marginalized. And over the course of two years, that has been our job),” she said in a statement Sunday.

The OVP reported as of June 30 that its Angat Buhay initiative has reached out to more than 155,000 families in 176 poor communities in the country. A total of P252 million worth of projects and programs were conducted in these communities. The Angat Buhay Program, launched in October 2016, establishes a link between the communities and local partners to help assist the poor in six key areas: food security and nutrition, universal health care, education, women empowerment, rural development, and housing and resettlement.

“Tingin ko iyong pinakamahalaga dito hindi lang iyong pagtulong, pero pinapakita natin iyong kahalagahan ng collaboration (I think what’s important here is not only helping, but also proving the value of collaboration),” Ms. Robredo said. In addition, the OVP, with pledges worth P14.3 million, said it was able to build 100 transitory shelters for residents displaced by the Marawi siege. This July, the office said it will turn over 60 completed houses to beneficiaries.

Sought for comment regarding these efforts in the context of next year’s election campaign season, former dean of the Ateneo School of Government Antonio G.M. La Viña said in a phone interview: “The chances of the opposition are as good as the candidates.”

“It’s all about having inherently strong candidates for (Ms.) Robredo because the endorsement value is not very big, unlike the President,” Mr. La Viña also said. He added that Ms. Robredo can be one of the strong candidates in the 2022 election. “I think (Ms.) Robredo comes as a strong candidate, if she decides to run, simply because (she’s the) current Vice-President, may (there is) name recall.”