Creation of team to monitor infrastructure fund urged

MANILA, Philippines - Businessmen who committed to putting up half of the P100 billion infrastructure fund are asking the government to set up a monitoring team to ensure that the money will be used properly.

“We want a monitoring group composed of church leaders, representatives of the business organization, the government and probably the academe,” Edgardo Lacson, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) said in a telephone interview.

According to Lacson, funders must be represented in the monitoring team to assure people putting up the money that they will be able to earn from their investment.

He explained that choosing which project to fund is crucial because the aim of the fund is to pump prime the economy. “We need to be careful. The project to be chosen must be the one with the biggest multiplier effect,” he noted.

“We need to be prepared. When the crisis ends, the Philippines must be ready to house new investors and this can be done by improving our country during this time of crisis,” Lacson explained further.

Lacson said the group will choose the project from a list pre-approved by the National Economic Development Agency (NEDA).

Aside from this, Lacson said it is imperative to make the bidding process as transparent as possible. “We cannot afford another controversy related to our infrastructure projects. We want this to run as smoothly as possible,” he added.

Lacson said there are already three possible projects. These are the LRT-MRT connection, the extension of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) to Diosdado Macapagal Airport and the extension of the South Luzon Expressway.

Lacson said the combined value of the three projects can be more than the private sector part. He said the infrastructure fund will be able to bankroll its first project by June. Initially, the target was to get the fund running by first quarter. The delays, Lacson said, was due to some of the questions raised regarding the funds.

“This is an unprecedented idea. We have to be careful because we do not want to make a mistake. That will be bad for the country,” he said.

Lacson stressed the importance of the infrastructure fund because he said this will take the place of the overseas development assistance (ODA) funds. The ODA received by the Philippines slowed down as a result of the slowdown in the global economy as most nations focus on their own pump priming measures.