NEDA: Marcos admin identified 206 flagship infra projects so far

The Marcos administration has already identified 206 big-ticket projects under its infrastructure program, but the number may decrease before the list is finalized by the end of the first quarter, a government official said Saturday.

National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon said that the projects are still being evaluated for viability.

"Iyong the benefits versus the costs, of course. Kasi iyong longer list, ito iyong mga 3,000 projects iyon, all the way to 2028. But like I said, iyong listahan na iyon, we will come up with it, will be uploaded again on the NEDA website by the end of this first quarter," Edillon said during the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City.

(We look at the benefits versus the costs, of course. The longer list contains 3,000 projects, all the way to 2028. But like I said, we will come up with the list, which will be uploaded again on the NEDA website by the end of this first quarter.)

"That could still be trimmed down," she said. 

Edillon's remarks came after the NEDA Board, chaired by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., approved seven projects, four of which will be financed through official development assistance (ODA) loans.

She said that apart from the ODA scheme, government projects will be funded through public-private partnerships (PPP), grants, and the national budget.

For PPP projects, which would be the focus of the Marcos administration, the NEDA official said the government will prefer solicited PPPs or "those well-crafted and vetted projects."

The projects approved by the NEDA Board on Thursday include the establishment of a 300-bed capacity University of the Philippines (UP)-Philippine General Hospital (PGH) Cancer Center-Public Private Partnership (PPP) project, increasing the cost of the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT3) rehabilitation project, utilization of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) loan balance for the new Communications, Navigation, Surveillance-Air Traffic Management (CNS-ATM) system, and the new Dumaguete Airport Development Project.

Also approved were the Department of Agriculture’s Mindanao Inclusive Agriculture Development Project (MIDP) and the Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH) P20-billion Integrated Flood Resilience and Adaptation Project-Phase 1 in three major river basins in the country. —VBL, GMA Integrated News