PPP Center, City Hall team up for big ticket projects

By: Emme Rose Santiagudo

THE Iloilo City government has formally tapped the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center in rolling out three big ticket projects under the PPP scheme.

Mayor Jerry Treñas led the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on Wednesday between the city government and the PPP Center represented by Executive Director Ferdinand Pecson.

The purpose of the MOA is to provide a “framework for cooperation and coordination with the goal of developing a robust pipeline of PPP projects for Iloilo City”.

In his speech, Treñas said his administration will first focus on three major projects – the slaughterhouse, markets, and waste management.

“We are very excited about this. I, together with the vice mayor, councilors and the department heads, are looking forward towards this relationship with the PPP Center because we are interested first in entering into an arrangement with the private sector partner for the slaughterhouse, waste to energy and markets as long as we will be able to maintain the upkeep and rentals for the ground floor,” the mayor added.

Treñas said PPP projects will also allow the city government to free a portion of the budget and in turn use it for other beneficial projects.

“This will allow us to free a portion of the budget which we will be able to use for social projects which will benefit the people of the city of Iloilo. We look forward to a very fruitful relationship with the PPP center,” he said.

Meanwhile, Pecson said they will take into consideration the concerns of the public during the course of the implementation of the PPP projects.

“Gaya ng sinabi ni mayor kung ano man ang programa natin ay hindi dapat natin kalimutan na may mga kababayan tayo na may mga pangangailangan din na hindi natin basta maisasantabi lang. Of course, kasama na rin yung environment, even gender, is going to be a consideration. It’s not just about the money, income or cost savings, it’s really a holistic approach,” Pecson said.

PPP Center Deputy Executive Director Mia Sebastian said they have their own in-house monitoring team that will help the local government ensure that proper implementation will be delivered by the private sector.

“This is the most important face of the project to make sure that the values and benefits that we estimated during the development stage will indeed be delivered by the private sector at the implementation so nandoon yung monitoring team naman to make sure that the terms of the contract signed between the local government and the private sector will indeed be followed during the implementation,” she explained.

The PPP Center will assist the city government in developing feasibility studies, business cases up to the bidding process with the private sectors.

Recently, Treñas also issued an Executive Order (EO) for the creation of PPP Selection Committee to roll out possible projects under the PPP scheme.