THE LACK OF RULES and right-of-way problems are holding up implementation of a P100-billion stimulus plan, business leaders said.
As such, members of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) — the private sector proponent of the fund — are meeting today to settle the mechanics of the fund, which is to be shouldered by both the public and private sectors. These rules will then be presented to the Cabinet for approval.
Business leaders will also be reviewing the status of right-of-way issues behind infrastructure projects the fund may finance, and will be choosing three blueprints at the meeting to recommend to the government, PCCI officials said.
The infrastructure stimulus, proposed by PCCI and approved in principle by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo last year, will be made up of contributions from government financial institutions and private banks.
"We’re now looking at the legal aspect. I need to get the legal framework cleared ... We need to create a depository vehicle from where guarantees can be issued by government," PCCI Chairman Emeritus Donald G. Dee told reporters at the sidelines of an economic managers’ meeting with business groups last Friday.
"It is within the charter of NDC (National Development Corp.) to manage the fund but they’re not comfortable with issuing guarantees," Mr. Dee told BusinessWorld in a telephone interview yesterday.
The pledge from the government will ideally back the loans private banks will extend to infrastructure contractors, he said.
Trade Secretary Peter B. Favila, to whom the NDC reports to, has said that sovereign guarantees would be issued only for select projects.
The meeting today will also settle "who are the people who will run the P100-billion fund and procedures and roles of the agencies", PCCI President Edgardo G. Lacson told BusinessWorld in a separate telephone interview yesterday.
"We will also review the infrastructure projects and we may choose three [to prioritize]," Mr. Lacson said.
Aside from the sticking point of sovereign guarantees, right-of-way issues attached to various proposed infrastructure projects remain unresolved.
The government will need to pay owners of land where infrastructure such as expressways will be built before construction can start. If the owners dispute the government’s assessment of the land’s value, the case will have to be settled in court.
"It’s always a major factor causing delays. It’s been our problem before and it is our problem today. You can bet almost all [of the proposed projects] have right of way issues," PCCI infrastructure committee Chairman Enrico L. Basilio yesterday said.
A right-of-way acquisition court may be set up to speed up the processing of disputes, he added.
Mr. Basilio previously cited four projects — the C-6 highway from Bicutan to Meycauyan, an expressway from Skyway 1 to the North Luzon Expressway, a "grand central station" on North Avenue and EDSA to serve various light railways, and the extension of LRT Line 1 southward — as among the ten projects the P100-billion stimulus fund will likely finance.
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