Duterte’s economic team approves 12 infrastructure projects in the Philippines

MANILA, Dec 23, 2019, Rappler. Members of the Investment Coordination Committee (ICC) approved 12 infrastructure projects on Friday, December 20, most of which are on the economic team’s newest flagship projects list, Rappler reported.

The most expensive of all newly approved projects is the P187-billion Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge. It will be financed through official development assistance (ODA) and is targeted to be completed by 2025 or 3 years after President Rodrigo Duterte’s term ends.

The P97.3-billion Panay-Guimaras-Negros Bridge was also approved by the ICC. It will also be financed through ODA and is targeted to be passable by 2024.

Two public-private partnership projects were also approved. These are Dennis Uy’s operate-add-transfer (OAT) unsolicited proposal for the Davao International Airport worth P48.97 billion and Aboitiz Infracapital’s OAT proposal for the Laguindingan Airport worth P45.83 billion.

Other approved projects are:

Metro Rail Transit Line 4 (P59.35 billion)
EDSA Greenways (P9.73 billion)
Cebu-Mactan Bridge and Coastal Road (P26 billion)
Davao City Coastal Bypass Road and Bucana Bridge (P26.35 billion)
Samar Pacific Coastal Road (P1.03 billion)
Davao City Bypass (P37.17 billion)
Capas-Botolan Road (not included in the flagship projects list)
Maritime Safety Enhancement Program (not included in the flagship projects list)

The Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge, MRT4, EDSA Greenways, Davao City Coastal Bypass Road, and Samar Pacific Coastal Road were not in the economic team’s original list of 75 projects, but are included in the new list with 100 projects released just last October.

“The Duterte administration will continue to ensure that all projects are implemented on time and on budget. We remain on track in achieving our target of accelerating infrastructure spending to 7% of GDP (gross domestic product) by 2022,” the ICC said.