PPP Center open to unsolicited proposals
Unsolicited proposals for infrastructure projects under the public-private partnership (PPP) scheme would be given equal treatment in the review process as solicited ones under the new administration, the PPP Center said.
An unsolicited proposal is made to the government by a private party willing to undertake the project. The project is thus initiated by a private firm or consortium rather than being in response to a request from the government.
The Aquino administration has shied away from such projects due to legal ramifications, preferring instead to pursue infrastructure projects studied on its own.
PPP Center executive director Andre Palacios said the Build-Operate-Transfer (BoT) Law provides for unsolicited proposals but noted agencies endorsing such proposals must carefully review those.
“We also have to ensure the integrity and transparency because at the end of the day, the cost of the project would be shouldered by the Philippine government,” he said.
“There was a preference for solicited proposals under the previous administration. Under the current administration, there is no bias for or against unsolicited proposals,” he said. “These would be given the same amount of attention in the review process.”
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez has said the execution of the PPP program would be reviewed to accommodate more unsolicited proposals, especially those that would help ease Metro Manila traffic.
Among the unsolicited proposals having difficulty getting past the procurement process is the North Luzon Expressway and South Luzon Expressway Connector Road of the Metro Pacific Group, which would be subjected to a Swiss Challenge this month.
Palacios said the Duterte administration received on July 5 its first unsolicited proposal for a nine- kilometer, 11-station elevated Light Rail Transit (LRT) line that would traverse Diliman, Quezon City to Lerma, Manila.
The proposal of East West Rail Corp and Alloy MTD Group to build and operate the railway for 30 years was endorsed by state- run Philippine National Railways (PNR) is now is under review by the technical working group ( TWG) of the Investment Coordination Committee (ICC). The PPP Center acts as the secretariat to the ICC and endorses the project to the ICC-TWG.