2,260 DPWH projects for this year already bid out

The government has bid out 2,260 infrastructure projects under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) as of end-January, with 868 of them already given Notices to Proceed, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said Monday. There are still 437 projects to be bid out. According to Budget and Management Secretary Florencio Abad, the DBM requested the DPWH to advance the procurement process for their infrastructure projects short of awarding. “This allowed the agency to hit the ground running as early as January, so that public infrastructure spending and development can proceed at a quicker pace this year,” he said. Abad also noted that P51.5 billion of the DPWH's P92.4-billion infrastructure budget this year program has already been obligated by the DPWH, so the DBM expects more Notices to Proceed to be issued in the first half of the year. Since 2010, said Abad, the DPWH has instituted reforms that “enabled the agency to facilitate greater efficiency in public fund use and project implementation,” such as improving its procurement system and the transparency of the bidding process. — BM, GMA News