5-year public investment projects to cost government P4.2T

MONDAY, 23 JANUARY 2012 22:15 CAI U. ORDINARIO / REPORTER

The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) estimates that the country’s Public Investment Program (PIP) may finance 1,900 projects until 2016.

In an interview, Neda Deputy Director General for Investment Programming Rolando G. Tungpalan said the figure already contains all infrastructure and microlending projects.

The Neda earlier said the PIP will cost around P4.2 trillion. Around P3.7 trillion of this amount will be used to finance various infrastructure projects while the remaining will be used for the government’s microlending program for small and medium enterprises.

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But Tungpalan said the number of projects may still change since President Aquino may ask some individual but related projects to be lumped together to come up with bigger programs.

“There are 1,900 items in the PIP, that’s the discreet number. But if we were to repackage it by lumping projects together to come up with bigger programs, the discreet number will be less but the impact will be greater,”Tungpalan told the BusinessMirror.

The 2011-2016 PIP, the country’s investment blueprint, contains all the projects that the current administration intends to complete until the end of the President’s term to achieve the goals set in the Philippine Development Plan (PDP).

Tungpalan said that while the final draft of the PIP has been presented to the President, the government is still in the process of finalizing it. Only when the PIP document is signed by the President can it be made public.

Neda Director General Cayetano W. Paderanga Jr. said the projects contained in the PIP may not be the only infrastructure and microlending projects to be implemented by the government.

This could increase the government’s investments in the next four to five years of the Aquino administration.

“This is an alive plan, yung program. Things are added as we go along,” Paderanga said. “Wala pa ’yung meeting. The meeting will be toward the end of January.”

The 2004 to 2010 MTPIP required an estimated P2.13 trillion. The lion’s share went to investments for the economic growth and job creation theme, which amounted to P1.49 trillion.

Under this theme, some P82.8 billion was earmarked for trade and investment; agribusiness, P357.1 billion; environment and natural resources, P198.5 billion; housing construction, P264.6 billion; and infrastructure, P571.7 billion.

This is followed by the combined themes on basic needs and education with a total investment requirement amounting to P347.6 billion over the medium term.

The programs and projects include the chapters on basic needs, which cost P161.3 billion; automated elections, P14.8 billion; peace process, P11.5 billion; peace and order, P26.7 billion; rule of law, P1.8 billion; education, P122.4 billion; science and technology, P9.2 billion; and culture, P1.7 billion.

The energy theme will require P262.5 billion worth of investments while P27.7 billion is programmed for the projects and programs under the anti-corruption and good government theme
.