The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) recently reported that the Duterte administration, within the last five years, has approved a total of 92 projects worth P3.86 trillion, most of which were big-ticket infrastructure projects financed by official development assistance (ODA) loans and grants.
The latest in the list – which spans from July 2016 to May 2021 – is a P19.18-billion project of the Department of Agriculture that would benefit farmers and fisherfolk who are vulnerable during crises and calamities.
NEDA data also showed 17 big-ticket projects to be financed by ODA and by the national budget pending approval. These are worth a total of P394.95 billion.
The biggest of these projects is the P175.69-billion Laguna lakeshore road network project phase one, to be financed by a loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Another big project is the P80.65-billion Davao City expressway.
Other projects awaiting ICC’s approval are the P2.84-billion expansion of General Santos City’s fish port; P7.57-billion construction of steel flyovers in three regions; P5.96-billion “iconic” bridges project; P28.98-billion Pasig-Marikina River basin flood management; P12.8-billion Philippine multisectoral nutrition project (to be financed by World Bank); and P25.8-billion acquisition of 40 weapon-ready, fast-patrol craft by the Philippine Coast Guard.
The ICC’s technical board is also reviewing 26 other projects, namely:
P2.81-billion master development plan to transform Libingan ng mga Bayani into a “world-class memorial facility”; P938.7-million “super maximum security compound” at Bureau of Corrections; P7.13-billion Panglao-Tagbilaran offshore bridge connector; P87.52-billion Quezon-Bicol Expressway; P4.54-billion Metro-Cebu Circumferential Road; P4.85-billion urban cable car project in the Santolan-Eastwood-Pasig corridor.