PPP Center expands pool of consultants

MANILA, Philippines - The Aquino administration is beefing up the number of consultants for major infrastructure projects under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) scheme amid the slew of court cases filed by disqualified and losing bidders.

PPP Center executive director Cosette Canilao said the government is in the process of refreshing the list as it is set to tap additional consultants as the number of PPP projects prefunded through the Project Development and Monitoring Facility (PDMF) continued to grow.

Canilao said companies have been given until March 22 to submit their expression of interest to the PPP Center.

“By May we will have a new panel in place,” she stressed.

Canilao said the PPP Center has already expanded its panel of advisors retained under indefinite delivery contracts to 15 in 2012 from only nine in 2011 given the considerable interest that the PDMF has generated among implementing agencies.

The agency is restructuring the panel to further improve its technical dimension and facilitate upgrading in terms of the capability, expertise, and experience.

She added that the PDMF assures the sustainability and dynamism of the program as projects are given the due diligence necessary in project structuring and transaction work.

The facility, she said, helped successfully built up its portfolio of 27 PDMF funded projects whose feasibility studies were prepared with the appropriate transaction advisory support and guidance from internationally recognized experts on PPPs.

Under the PDMF guidelines, the PPP Center would commission technical advisors composed of international and local consulting firms for the implementing agencies that would avail of the facility.

The PDMF committee made up of representatives from the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Department of Finance (DOF), Department of Budget Management (DBM) and the PPP Center approves all PDMF applications.

For each PDMF-approved project, a Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC) and a Project Study Committee (PSC) are created to oversee the procurement of specific project consulting teams and the review of their outputs.