Baguio appears on right track with PPP ventures after Marcos admin announces plan to tap private sector to tackle fiscal woes
Baguio City is treading the right direction in its economic recovery ventures with an array of pipelined projects for public-private partnership (PPP).
This as the incoming administration of President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. announced plans to pursue more PPPs in the next six years to “address the fiscal bind” that the country is now in. The incoming NEDA Director General, Arsenio Balisacan said that there is a need to reach out to the private sector and believes that the private sector plays a strong role in economic development, “without the private sector, you can’t really expect to go far”. A primary consideration for PPAs would be economic viability and sustainability of the project, he further said.
Mayor Benjamin Magalong said he is pleased that the city had early on set into motion its PPP undertakings despite being faced with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic for most of the three years that he served his first term.
“I am glad that we are in the right strategic direction and our vision is aligned with that of the incoming administration. We are all the more inspired to pursue our agenda for our city and we are sure that we will continue to have the support of our national officials,” the mayor said.
The visionary mayor, from the start of his administration in 2019 and even amidst the pandemic, pursued PPP and economic enterprise with the goal of increasing the city’s revenue stream and reducing reliance on taxes.
The city currently has two PPP projects that are now under the negotiation stage — P3 billion public market modernization and the P1.025 billion multi-modal transport terminal at Dontogan.
The following are the upcoming PPP ventures: Waste-to-Energy Project, Mass Transit System (Cable Car and Elevated Monorail), Multi-level Parking, Kennon Road Modernization, Slaughterhouse Modernization with Cold Storage Facility of Triple A Standard and Parks and Open Space Development/Redevelopment.
The mayor said with his fresh mandate, the city will work on more PPP projects to ensure a sustainable economic enterprise for the city.
The present projects are envisioned to create a “steady revenue stream” with about P500 to P600 million income expected yearly once fully operationalized.
He said the city has no problem looking for investors for its projects because of the reputation it has established in the last three years.
“We are observing the right process, we are transparent and we shun corruption and under-the-table deals. We want to be a model in implementation of projects, both the big ones like the PPPs and the small ones to ensure that they are beneficial to the public. We want to build a good reputation for our city through good governance and the investors see it and are coming in,” the mayor said.
PPP is a contractual arrangement between the LGU and the private sector to deliver public infrastructure and / or public services where each party assumes specified functions, bears certain risks, provides contribution, performs particular obligations, and earns benefits and revenues.
The purpose of which are: promote local economic development that eventually contribute to the increase on the growth of national economy and create more jobs, to help local government units (LGUs) in providing basic services to the community and its people especially the marginalized men and women, and to develop, create and strengthen the partnership between the local and private sectors in promoting the general welfare and providing better quality of life of the people. – Aileen P. Refuerzo with reports from City Planning and Development Office
