Lawmaker: Give portion of PPP funds to infrastructure, SUCs

With the more than P12 billion government counterpart funds for the public-private-partnership projects for 2011 still intact, a senior member of the minority bloc in the House of Representatives yesterday suggested that a portion of the 2012 PPP budget be realigned for infrastructure and State Universities and Colleges (SUCs).

In a statement, House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman said the excess fat in the 2012 appropriations for PPP, which have ballooned to 76.8 percent over the 2011 level, must be excised to augment the budget for infrastructures SUCs.

Lagman issued the statement as a select committee starts deliberating on amendments to the 2012 General Appropriations Bill.

“The allocation of P22.1 billion in 2012 as government counterpart funds for PPP projects is inordinately excessive considering the unutilized balance of P12,425,500,000 this year which is available for disbursement next year,” Lagman said.

“Due to the anemic implementation of PPP projects for the past 15 months where no project has been bidded out, the appropriations in 2011 in the total amount of P12.5 billion for the Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and Department of Agriculture (DA) have barely been used,” he added.

The Albay solon noted the 2011 outlay for DoTC in the amount of P5 billion remains intact, while DPWH utilized only P72 million for road right-of-way out of its total budget of P5 billion and only the amount of P2.5 million was released to DA, of which only less than P500,000 has been obligated out of its allocation of P2.5 billion.

DoTC, DPWH and DA have a combined unutilized balance of P12,425,500,000 which should be carried over for next year.

Consequently, Lagman said, the PPP budget for 2012 even if maintained at P22.1 billion is still effectively overstated by P12.425 billion corresponding to the unutilized balance in 2011.

“This excess of P12.425 billion must be realigned to augment the appropriations for infrastructure and State Universities and Colleges,” Lagman said.

Nonetheless, Lagman added he welcomes the news that the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Department of Health (DoH) have been added as beneficiaries of PPP with outlays of P5 billion and P3 billion, respectively. –Charlie V. Manalo, Daily Tribune