Construction of new P2.6-billion Neda building starts in 2017
MANILA — Three agencies attached to state planning agency National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) will soon move to a new building adjacent t0 the current head office within Ortigas Center by 2020 following the approval of the over P2.6-billion budget for its construction.
In a statement Wednesday, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said it had issued the multi-year obligational authority (MYOA) to build the proposed new 15-story NEDA central office building starting next year.
The four-year project had been issued an MYOA totaling P2.684 billion—P573.9 million for 2017, P592.9 million for 2018, P747.7 million for 2019, and P769.4 million for 2020.
“The general provisions of the annual General Appropriations Act states that government agencies must secure an MYOA from the DBM for the implementation of multi-year projects,” the DBM explained, referring to the annual budget process.
“An MYOA ensures that the succeeding funding requirements of a multi-year project shall be included in the budget program per year of implementation. It is the basis for the approved budget contract as provided in the Government Procurement Reform Act,” the DBM added.
The DBM said the new building would be occupied by the almost 1,000 employees of NEDA as well as its attached agencies, specifically the Private-Public Partnership (PPP) Center of the Philippines, the Philippine National Volunteer Service Coordinating Agency (PNVSCA) and the Tariff Commission.
The new building would rise on the parking lot adjacent to the existing office in Pasig City. In an interview last year, former NEDA director-general Arsenio M. Balisacan noted that the current office building was built in the 1970s, but it has remained structurally sound.
At present, the PPP Center is occupying an office at Eton Centris in Quezon City, near other NEDA-attached agencies such as the Philippine Institute for Development Studies as well as the Philippine Statistics Authority. The PNVSCA is currently at the Philippine Sugar Center Building also in Quezon City; while the Tariff Commission can be found on the fifth floor of the Philippine Heart Center, also in Quezon City.
Under the 2016 national budget, NEDA was allotted P20 million to be spent on the architectural and engineering design of the soon-to-rise building.
Last April, NEDA started the bidding process for the preparation of the terms of reference, design parameters and tender documents for the design and construction of its new building.
Also, the DBM said this project was part of the Three-Year Rolling Infrastructure Program (Trip), whose implementation would start in July under the new administration.
The Trip for the period 2017-2019 was aimed at “[meeting] investment targets for public infrastructure” while “[promoting] the optimal use of public resources for infrastructure development by assuring fund allocation for well-developed and readily-implementable projects,” NEDA earlier said.
“The multi-year rolling program for infrastructure will assure us that once an infrastructure program has been planned, and it is rolled out, it is going to continue to receive funding from the government. This is one of our efforts to synchronize and tighten the link between the programming and budgeting functions of the government for infrastructure projects and programs,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Emmanuel F. Esguerra explained.
NEDA said the Trip would be incorporated into the 2017 national budget process. “The Trip will also ensure that the hard budget ceilings of government agencies are optimized and utilized in funding
infrastructure programs that are responsive to the priorities and strategies in the Philippine Development Plan. More importantly, it will see to it that the government’s target for increased investment in public infrastructure is met,” Esguerra, also the director-general of NEDA, has said.
“Through the Trip, government will be able to address gaps in the infrastructure sector including pending projects from previous years, some of which are 4,710 kilometers of national roads that need to be paved, 366,014 units of socialized housing that are up for construction, and 1.2 million hectares for irrigation,” NEDA said. SFM/rga
