The Investment Coordination Committee-Cabinet Committee (ICC-CC) is set to recommend to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board the further streamlining of the approval process for big-ticket projects to be funded by Official Development Assistance (ODA) loans, in line with the government’s goal of fast-tracking the implementation of its flagship infrastructure projects.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, who chairs the ICC-CC, said the Committee will seek the approval of this new “3-in-1” streamlined process by the NEDA Board chaired by President Duterte, so that the time devoted to the necessary government actions prior to the loan processing for projects would be reduced from the usual four to eight weeks to just one NEDA Board meeting.
“Our goal here is to speed up the approval and implementation of our flagship infra projects so that we can get shovels on the ground as soon as possible,” Dominguez said.
Under the streamlined “3-in-1” process, Dominguez said the NEDA Board approval; the issuance of the Special Presidential authority (SPA) to government officials to negotiate and sign the loan, guarantee or grant agreement for the project; and the Forward Obligational Authority by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) would be issued simultaneously during a single NEDA Board meeting.
“We are really tightening up the procedures to speed up the processing of our projects,” Dominguez said.
At the hearing of the Senate finance committee on the proposed 2018 budget of the Department of Finance (DOF), Dominguez said the “3-in-1” process is among the steps taken by the Duterte administration to significantly improve the absorptive capacity of government agencies, particularly those involved in the government’s “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program.
Dominguez assured Senator Loren Legarda, who chairs the committee, that besides this “3-in-1” process, the Duterte administration is also undertaking other measures to ensure that its big-ticket infra projects are implemented properly and on schedule.
He pointed out, for instance, that the “Build, Build, Build” team of which the DOF is a member, meets once every 10 days to monitor the progress of the flagship infra projects.
Dominguez said he has also ensured that the DOF is a member of the project management teams that would be organized by the various Cabinet departments and agencies so that “we can monitor the spending and implementation of the projects.”
“Moreover, together with Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran, we are working on several anti-red tape procedures without removing the necessary checks and balances on these projects,” Dominguez said.
The finance chief said the ICC-CC had approved the “3-in-1” process during its meeting last August 11.
Dominguez said that the usual process is for the NEDA Board to approve a project and then wait for another NEDA Board meeting to act on the other requirements necessary to get the loan or grant agreement for the project signed.
“Under our proposal, we are doing the approval and confirmation of projects in the same meeting so we don’t have to wait for another one or two months,” he said.
Dominguez said the Department of Finance, in coordination with the DBM, NEDA and the Office of the President, will further finetune the work processes necessary to carry out the “3-in-1” approval process.
He noted that during its Sept. 12 meeting, which proceeded even with the work suspension issued by Malacanang owing to the inclement weather, the NEDA Board approved several big-ticket projects and recommended the issuance of the SPA to the appropriate government officials to negotiate and sign the relevant financing documents for these projects.
According to Malacanang, the NEDA Board approved 10 new projects, including Phase I of the $7-billion (358.25-billion) Metro Manila Subway, the Philippine National Railways (PNR)-South Commuter Line and its extension, the PNR South Long Haul Line, the Lower Agno Irrigation System Improvement Project, and the Chico River Pump Irrigation Project, along with the increase in the cost of the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit System.
