NEDA Board approves purchase of 5 PCG vessels, other projects
The National Economic and Development Authority Board or NEDA Board, chaired by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., approved on Thursday several projects, one including the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).
The NEDA Board gave its nod for the P29.3 billion Phase 3 of the Maritime Safety Capability Improvement Project for the PCG, which will involve the design, construction, and delivery of five units of multi-role response vessels or MRRVs, each with a length of 97 meters.
With a five-year integrated logistics support, it is seen improve the PCG’s capability to respond to threats and incidents within the country’s maritime jurisdiction, particularly by enabling it to secure important sea lines of communication in the West Philippine Sea, Sulu-Celebes Seas, and the Philippine Sea.
To be financed through Japan’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) loan, it will also help the PCG combat illegal activities and enforce maritime laws in the Philippine waters.
Other approvals were the construction of major infrastructure projects.
NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said among those approved by the NEDA Board was the P28.2 billion Pang-Agraryong Tulay Para sa Bagong Bayanihan ng mga Magsasaka or PBBM Bridges Project of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).
The project is aimed at constructing 350 modular steel bridges with an estimated total length of 10,500 linear meters to enhance access and connectivity for agrarian reform communities.
The approved project also aims to increase the productivity and income of at least 350,000 households by easing the mobility and access to and from the agrarian reform communities to generate more employment and to provide communities with better social services and market access.
Also approved was the revised parameters, terms, and conditions, or PTCs, of the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway or TPLEX Extension Project as recommended by the Investment Coordination Committee of the NEDA Board.
These PTCs were negotiated between the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Original Proponent of the unsolicited PPP project.
Following this approval, the DPWH will proceed with the publication of the invitation for comparative proposals in accordance with the Revised 2022 Build-Operate-Transfer Law Implementing Rules and Regulations, as well as the ICC Guidelines on Processing PPP proposals.
The TPLEX Extension Project, approved in June this year, involves a 59.4 kilometer toll road, which will connect from the last exit of TPLEX in Rosario, La Union and will end in San Juan, La Union.
Currently, there are 71 ongoing projects, 29 projects approved for implementation, nine projects awaiting government approval, 52 projects in the project preparation phase, and 35 projects in the pre-project preparation phase as of the third quarter of 2023, the NEDA official reported. Presidential News Desk
