NEDA Board approves seven more infrastructure projects

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board approved seven more projects during its second meeting in Malacañang on Monday.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia, in a text message to reporters, sent the list of projects approved and discussed during the meeting:

• Scaling-Up of the Second Cordillera Highlands Agricultural Resources Management Project (CHARMP2) / Department of Agriculture (DA)
• Expansion of the Philippine Rural Development Project / DA
• Improvement/Widening of General Luis Road (Quezon City to Valenzuela City) Project / Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)
• New Cebu International Port / Department of Transportation (DOTr)
• North-South Railway Project (NSRP)-South Line / DOTr
• Malitubog-Maridagao Irrigation Project, Stage 2 / National Irrigation Administration (NIA)
• New Nayong Pilipino at Entertainment City / Department of Tourism (DOT)

The seven infrastructure projects are worth P270 billion, Pernia said.

The NEDA Board also approved the Investment Coordination Committee (ICC) guidelines on processing of China-assisted projects.

It also confirmed the unbundling of the earlier NEDA Board-approved airport projects in n Iloilo, Bacolod, Davao, Laguindingan, and Bohol. But the DOTr and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) are to decide for airport bundling for bidding.

The NEDA Board, however, deferred on the Chico River Pump Irrigation Project since NIA was instructed to reconfigure the project to include hydropower, information on crops that could thrive in the area based on soil type, and submit the information for ICC review.

The NEDA Board previously approved nine projects worth P171.14 billion set to be completed within the next six years:  

• The P10.2-billion Inclusive Partnership for Agricultural Competitiveness (IPAC) under the Department of Agrarian Reform
• The P2.4-billion Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center Modernization (EVRMC) Project of the Department of Health (DOH)
• The P2.2-billion Modernization of Gov. Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital, also under the DOH
• The P23.5-billion Metro Manila Flood Management Project, Phase I of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA)
• The P37.8-billion Metro Manila Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)-EDSA of the Department of Transportation (DOTr)
• The P4.8-billion expansion of the Passenger Terminal Building (PTB) Area of the Bicol International Airport, a joint project of the DOTr and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP)
• The P7.4-billion change in the scope of the New Bohol Airport Construction and Sustainable Environment Protection Project, also under the DOTr and CAAP
• The P74.6-billion Ninoy Aquino International Airport public-private partnership (PPP)
• The P8-billion Maritime Safety Capability Improvement Project for the PCG, Phase II of the DOTr and Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno previously said the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte would be the "golden age of infrastructure," allocating P8.2 trillion for infrastructure projects in the next six years. — VVP, GMA News