PPP Center, Cebu team up to develop project pipeline

MANILA, Philippines — The Public Private Partnership (PPP) Center and the Cebu provincial government have teamed up to develop a pipeline of projects to be implemented as PPPs.

In a statement, the PPP Center said that a memorandum of agreement (MOA) was signed by Cebu Gov. Pamela Baricuatro and PPP Center deputy executive director Eleazar Ricote for the collaboration.

Under the MOA, the PPP Center will assist the Cebu provincial government in identifying, evaluating, structuring and preparing projects that may be implemented as PPPs.

Through the PPP mode of project implementation, the government taps the private sector for the delivery of infrastructure and development projects typically provided by the public sector.

Under this arrangement, the parties share the associated risks, while the private sector’s investment recovery is tied to its performance.

As part of the MOA, the PPP Center will help the provincial government throughout the project approval, procurement and implementation stages.

In addition, the PPP Center will help the provincial government determine which potential PPP projects may qualify for support from the Project Development and Monitoring Facility (PDMF).

Managed by the PPP Center, the PDMF is a revolving fund that implementing agencies, including local government units (LGUs), can tap for PPP project development, procurement and implementation.

For its part, the Cebu provincial government will establish a PPP unit to work with the PPP Center.

The Cebu provincial government has identified the Solar Energy Program for Cebu Provincial Hospitals as a possible PPP project.

The proposed project aims to reduce electricity cost and improve selected provincial hospitals’ energy resilience.

As part of the MOA, the PPP Center and Cebu provincial government are also looking at the possible development of inter-LGU and regional projects to improve connectivity and promote investments and economic development in Cebu and Central Visayas.