CLARK FREEPORT -- The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Board on Friday, November 29, approved key infrastructure flagship projects (IFPs) seen to improve road network connectivity of the country’s main three islands of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) president Vince Dizon, who is also the presidential adviser for flagship programs and projects, said the projects include the land transport in Mindanao, such as the Davao Public Transport Bus Modernization Project and the Samal Island - Davao City Connector Project.
The Davao Public Transport Bus Modernization Project involves the delivery of a modern, high priority bus system (HPBS) for Davao City.
The Samal Island - Davao City Connector Project is expected to cut travel time from 26 to 30 minutes using Roro/ferry operations to just two to five minutes.
The Neda Board also approved the New Bohol (Panglao) International Airport and the rehabilitation of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), both unsolicited proposals from the private sector; as well as major highways in Bicol Region, such as the Pasacao-Balatan Tourism Coastal Highway and the Camarines Sur Expressway.
The projects are part of the revised list of IFPs, which was also approved by the Neda Board Friday.
“The swift approval of the projects show how serious the government is in moving towards the realization of the Build Build Build program and allow our people - to use the words of the President - to ‘use use use’ them in order to live a more comfortable life,” Dizon said.
The 100 flagship projects out of the thousands of projects under the Build Build Build program have a total projected cost of P4.25 trillion. The list covers five categories, namely Transport and Mobility, Power, Water, Information and Communications Technology, and Urban Development and Renewal.
Dizon earlier committed that all 100 flagship projects will be started under the term of President Duterte.
https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1834331
Saturday, November 30, 2019
Duterte okays NAIA rehab project
By Chino S.Leyco
President Rodrigo R. Duterte has given the green light to the unsolicited proposal from a consortium of big private businesses to modernize the aging Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), the Department of Finance (DOF) announced yesterday.
Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said the ₱102-billion NAIA rehabilitation project was approved during the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board meeting chaired by President Duterte yesterday.
The unsolicited proposal was submitted by Ayala Corp., Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Alliance Global Group, Inc., Asia Emerging Dragon, Filinvest Development, JG Summit and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. that sought the operation and upgrade of Metro Manila’s main air gateway.
Just last month, the Duterte administration included the NAIA rehabilitation plan in its upgraded list of flagship infrastructure projects along with the ₱735-billion New Manila International Airport by the San Miguel Corp.
Under the proposal, the so-called “super consortium” will transform NAIA into a regional airport hub and expand its capacity to meet the anticipated growth in passenger traffic.
But before the NAIA rehabilitation plan received President’s approval, the project suffered delays after the government returned the consortium’s proposed concession agreement.
The private proponent needed to adjust its draft concession agreement submitted to the Department of Transportation to conform with the government’s new standard for unsolicited projects.
President Duterte has standardized and patterned all draft agreements on unsolicited proposals to the operation and maintenance contract of Clark International Airport which covers provisions for MAGA or material adverse government action.
Under the MAGA clause, proponents will only be compensated for adverse government action from the executive branch and not for any change in future laws.
If MAGA occurs during the operation and maintenance period, the project proponent is entitled to compensation equal to the additional costs incurred and/or loss of revenue.
https://business.mb.com.ph/2019/11/29/duterte-okays-naia-rehab-project/
President Rodrigo R. Duterte has given the green light to the unsolicited proposal from a consortium of big private businesses to modernize the aging Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), the Department of Finance (DOF) announced yesterday.
Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said the ₱102-billion NAIA rehabilitation project was approved during the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board meeting chaired by President Duterte yesterday.
The unsolicited proposal was submitted by Ayala Corp., Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Alliance Global Group, Inc., Asia Emerging Dragon, Filinvest Development, JG Summit and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. that sought the operation and upgrade of Metro Manila’s main air gateway.
Just last month, the Duterte administration included the NAIA rehabilitation plan in its upgraded list of flagship infrastructure projects along with the ₱735-billion New Manila International Airport by the San Miguel Corp.
Under the proposal, the so-called “super consortium” will transform NAIA into a regional airport hub and expand its capacity to meet the anticipated growth in passenger traffic.
But before the NAIA rehabilitation plan received President’s approval, the project suffered delays after the government returned the consortium’s proposed concession agreement.
The private proponent needed to adjust its draft concession agreement submitted to the Department of Transportation to conform with the government’s new standard for unsolicited projects.
President Duterte has standardized and patterned all draft agreements on unsolicited proposals to the operation and maintenance contract of Clark International Airport which covers provisions for MAGA or material adverse government action.
Under the MAGA clause, proponents will only be compensated for adverse government action from the executive branch and not for any change in future laws.
If MAGA occurs during the operation and maintenance period, the project proponent is entitled to compensation equal to the additional costs incurred and/or loss of revenue.
https://business.mb.com.ph/2019/11/29/duterte-okays-naia-rehab-project/
DOTr cites court rulings to speed up MRT-7
By Emmie V. Abadilla
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) lauded the courts’ upholding the state’s right to expropriate property for the 20-hectare proposed depot site of the ₱63-billion Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT-7) in Lagro, Quezon City.
To date, MRT7 is halfway complete, 17 years after project proponents submitted their unsolicited proposal to the government. For the last couple of years, the railway project has been mired in Right of Way (ROW) issues.
Now, the DOTr and project concessionaire, SMC Mass Rail Transit 7, Inc. (SMRT7), has formally began construction work for the MRT-7 depot in Quezon City after two Regional Trial Courts ruled in their favor.
Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade the other day thanked the judiciary for recognizing the importance of the MRT-7 project, emphasizing it is “vital to uphold the right of the government to expropriate in accelerating the completion of much-needed transportation infrastructure projects.”
“The actions of the lower courts are indeed a welcome development and an important milestone in the pursuit of the objective of the Duterte administration to give the Filipinos the comfortable life they deserve,” he underscored after the two Quezon City Regional Trial Courts granted writs of possession in favor of DOTr and SMRT7 for expropriating the MRT-7 depot site along the Quirino Highway in Barangay Lagro, Quezon City.
Last June 29, he approved the new Lagro depot site to replace the original 33-hectare depot site in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan after the property owner questioned its expropriation at the Malolos Regional Trial Court Branch 11. The latter ruled for a higher valuation, jacking up the private proponent’s required deposit for MRT7 900 percent, from ₱67.105 million to ₱598.905 million.
The DOTr elevated the case to the Court of Appeals but it was “taking forever to resolve the issue.”
Next, the DOTr offered to buy the replacement depot site in Lagro, owned by “a major real estate development company” at current market value, as appraised by a Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas-accredited independent property appraiser” because it was “optimal for right-of-way implementability, asset constructibility, capital expenditure and operational expense efficiency, and operational reliability and maintainability.”
The property owners refused to sell. Hence, the DOTr and SMRT7 filed expropriation cases through the Office of the Solicitor General last Nov. 15.
The Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 92 issued the writ of expropriation on November 22 and RTC Branch 98, three days after. The sheriffs of the two courts enforced the writs and work on the Lagro depot “formally started” November 26, 2019.
The depot, where trains are parked or repaired, is an integral part of any railway and the project can now proceed without major stumbling blocks, according to the DOTr.
The MRT-7 project will run 23 kilometers, from North Avenue, Quezon City to San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan, with a travel time of 34 minutes from one end to the other, servicing 300,000 to 850,000 passengers daily.
https://business.mb.com.ph/2019/11/29/dotr-cites-court-rulings-to-speed-up-mrt-7/
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) lauded the courts’ upholding the state’s right to expropriate property for the 20-hectare proposed depot site of the ₱63-billion Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT-7) in Lagro, Quezon City.
To date, MRT7 is halfway complete, 17 years after project proponents submitted their unsolicited proposal to the government. For the last couple of years, the railway project has been mired in Right of Way (ROW) issues.
Now, the DOTr and project concessionaire, SMC Mass Rail Transit 7, Inc. (SMRT7), has formally began construction work for the MRT-7 depot in Quezon City after two Regional Trial Courts ruled in their favor.
Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade the other day thanked the judiciary for recognizing the importance of the MRT-7 project, emphasizing it is “vital to uphold the right of the government to expropriate in accelerating the completion of much-needed transportation infrastructure projects.”
“The actions of the lower courts are indeed a welcome development and an important milestone in the pursuit of the objective of the Duterte administration to give the Filipinos the comfortable life they deserve,” he underscored after the two Quezon City Regional Trial Courts granted writs of possession in favor of DOTr and SMRT7 for expropriating the MRT-7 depot site along the Quirino Highway in Barangay Lagro, Quezon City.
Last June 29, he approved the new Lagro depot site to replace the original 33-hectare depot site in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan after the property owner questioned its expropriation at the Malolos Regional Trial Court Branch 11. The latter ruled for a higher valuation, jacking up the private proponent’s required deposit for MRT7 900 percent, from ₱67.105 million to ₱598.905 million.
The DOTr elevated the case to the Court of Appeals but it was “taking forever to resolve the issue.”
Next, the DOTr offered to buy the replacement depot site in Lagro, owned by “a major real estate development company” at current market value, as appraised by a Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas-accredited independent property appraiser” because it was “optimal for right-of-way implementability, asset constructibility, capital expenditure and operational expense efficiency, and operational reliability and maintainability.”
The property owners refused to sell. Hence, the DOTr and SMRT7 filed expropriation cases through the Office of the Solicitor General last Nov. 15.
The Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 92 issued the writ of expropriation on November 22 and RTC Branch 98, three days after. The sheriffs of the two courts enforced the writs and work on the Lagro depot “formally started” November 26, 2019.
The depot, where trains are parked or repaired, is an integral part of any railway and the project can now proceed without major stumbling blocks, according to the DOTr.
The MRT-7 project will run 23 kilometers, from North Avenue, Quezon City to San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan, with a travel time of 34 minutes from one end to the other, servicing 300,000 to 850,000 passengers daily.
https://business.mb.com.ph/2019/11/29/dotr-cites-court-rulings-to-speed-up-mrt-7/
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