Public bidding not needed for ₧1.2-B ‘Nayon’ lease deal

By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

PUBLIC bidding is not required for the validity of the P1.2billion lease agreement entered into by the Nayong Pilipino Foundation (NPF) with West Side City, Inc., formerly known as Resorts World Bayshore City Inc. (RWBCI) covering 5.43 hectares of the former’s property, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has declared.

I n a four-page legal opinion by Undersecretary Nicholas Ty, the DOJ reiterated its previous legal opinions that there is no law requiring the conduct of public bidding for the lease of government property.

T he DOJ issued its Legal Opinion No. 29 last July 6, 2023 in response to the request of NPF Executive Director Gertrudes Duran-Batocabe. Batocabe sought the DOJ’s legal position on whether public bidding is an indispensable requirement for the validity of the lease agreement entered into by the NPF and RWBCI on August 20, 2014.

B atocabe told the DOJ that the NPF decided to lease to RWBCI a portion of NPF’s property, with an area of 5.43 hectares, with an upfront advance rental of P1.2 billion in order to generate funds necessary for the development of Nayong Pilipino Cultural Part (NPCP).

T he advance rental, according to Batocabe, enabled the NPF to sustain its operations since it did not receive any allocation of government funds under the General Appropriations Act. B atocabe recounted that prior to the execution of the lease agreement, the NPF consulted the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC), which declared that the proposed lease agreement with RWBCI need not undergo public bidding because the leasing out of its property does not constitute procurement under Republic Act No. 9184, or the Government Procurement Reform Act.

T he OGCC stressed that the NPF, in the exercise of its sound business judgment, may negotiate and execute a lease with any party like RWBCI, under such conditions deemed most advantageous to the government.

Data obtained from approved building permits showed the value of these projects amounted to P99.6 billion, an 8-percent growth in 2022 from the same period in 2021.

T he amount covered 39,638 projects in the second quarter of 2022, which represented a contraction of 6.4 percent.

T he bulk of these construction projects are accounted for by residential building constructions, valued at P49.27 billion, representing almost half or 49.5 percent of the total value of constructions during the quarter.

P SA said this amount increased by 3.5 percent from the P47.6-billion total construction value in the same quarter of 2021.

A mong residential constructions, single houses had the highest value of constructions at P34.3 billion or 69.6 percent of the total.

T he value of non-residential constructions, amounting to P44.06 billion, contributed 44.2 percent to the total value of constructions during the quarter.

T his reflects a 21.7-percent annual increment from the P36.2billion value of non-residential constructions in the same quarter of the previous year.

A mong non-residential con - structions, commercial buildings registered the highest value of constructions at P21.29 billion or 48.3 percent of the total.

I n the second quarter of 2022, the value of constructions of addition, and alteration and repair to existing structures, amounted to P0.93 billion or 0.9 percent of the total and P5.34 billion or 5.4 percent, respectively.

T he construction value for addition to existing structures expanded at an annual rate of 2 percent, while the value of constructions for alteration and repair of existing structures contracted 29.2 percent.

B y type of construction, residential buildings reported the highest number of 28,411 constructions or 71.7 percent of the total number of constructions during the quarter.

T his type of construction contracted 5.7 percent compared with the 30,139 constructions in the same quarter of the previous year. Majority of the total residential constructions were single-type houses with 24,727 or 87 percent of the total.

PSA said non-residential type of constructions ranked second with 6,646 or 16.8 percent of the total number of constructions during the quarter. T his indicates an increase of 5.7 percent compared with the 6,285 constructions recorded in the same period of the previous year. Most of the non-residential constructions were commercial buildings with 4,584 or 69 percent of the total.

D ata showed that Additions, which refer to any new construction that increases the height or area of an existing building/structure, and alteration and repair of existing structures contributed 3.1 percent and 8.4 percent to the total number of constructions during the quarter, respectively.

Compared with their respective number of constructions in the same period of the previous year, addition-type of construction expanded at an annual rate of 0.1 percent this quarter, while alteration and repair contracted 28.9 percent.

Govt to spend 6% of GDP for infra devt–PBBM

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. committed to keep spending as much as 6 percent of the country’s GDP for infrastructure development, driven by its goal of linking not only the three major island groups but “all prospective sites of economic development.”

I n his second State of the Nation Address (SONA), Marcos said the government has beefed up its infrastructure development program with the addition of 123 new projects into the Build, Better, More (BBM) Program.

“ We are not just continuing what has been started, but we are expanding the portfolio,” he said.

A n offshoot of the Build, Build, Build (BBB) Program of the Duterte administration, the BBM program covers flagship investment proj - ects in areas of physical connectivity, water resources, agriculture, health, digital connectivity, and energy.

M arcos said 83 percent of the program involves investments in physical connectivity. “ Physical connectivity infrastructure such as roads, bridges, airports, seaports, and mass transport account for 83 percent of this program. Our infrastructure spending will stay at five to six percent of our GDP. The underlying logic to our infrastructure development is economic efficiency. We are opening up all gateways to mobilize goods and services at less cost with less time and ultimately drive the economy forward. Our road network plans must link not only our three major islands, but all prospective sites of economic development,” he said.

He cited the 1,200-kilometer (km) Luzon Spine Expressway

Network Program and the 90-km Mega Bridge Program as some of the crucial components of the BBM Program.

M arcos also highlighted the development of more than 4,000 kilometers of roads and 500 bridges across the country.

T he President also stressed that airport and seaport developments are “crucial” in ensuring a connected Philippines.

M ass transport, he noted, is also a priority for this administration.

“ We initiated several railway projects with a length of more than 1,000 km. Notably, the southern leg of the North-South Commuter Railway System is now in full swing. In a few years, travel from Pampanga to Laguna will be reduced from four hours to just two,” he said.

L astly, creating a network of interconnected infrastructure systems will be the target of the

Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Intermodal connectivity will also be a primary consideration. Roads, bridges, and mass transport systems will be interconnected. This network will provide access and passage to vital and bustling economic markets such as agriculture hubs, tourism sites, and key business districts,” Marcos said.

T he BusinessMirror earlier reported that advocacy groups Move as One Coalition and AltMobility called on Marcos to develop a “transportation system,” an environment where all the modes of transportation are carefully coordinated with each other. A ccording to the two groups, the success of the reforms in the transport industry must be measured by how much the commuters have felt improvements—if any.

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng