P-Noy renames BOT Center to PPP Center

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino has signed an executive order that reorganized and renamed the build-operate-transfer center to the Public-Private Partnership Center of the Philippines under the National Economic Development Authority.

EO 136 states that that there is a “need to amend certain sections” in EO 8 series of 2010, removing from the Department of Trade and Industry the previous jurisdiction of handling the implementation of government-backed projects.

This is for “budgetary purposes and administrative supervision.”

Under Section 2, the PPP Center will also “manage and administer the Project Development and Monitoring Facility (PDMF), formerly known as the Project Development Facility (PDF) established as a revolving fund under EO 44 series of 2002.”

The PPP Center shall act as the secretariat of the PPP Governing Board - the overall policy-making body for all PPP-related matters, including the PDMF.

“It shall be responsible for setting the strategic direction of the PPP Program and creating an enabling policy and institutional environment for PPP,” a portion of the EO read.

The PPP Board is headed by a chairman (Neda chief), a vice chairman (secretary of finance), with the secretaries of DBM, DOJ, DTI, executive secretary and private sector co-chairman of the National Competitiveness Council as members.

The PPP Center will be headed by an executive director, whose rank will be equivalent to that of an undersecretary, who will be appointed by Aquino upon the recommendation of the NEDA director-general.