Five Cebu projects lobbied for 2012 budget

FIVE major infrastructure projects for Cebu were submitted to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) central office for inclusion in next year’s 2012 national budget.

The projects were part of the 10 high impact projects identified by the Partnership for Better Infrastructure (PBI) Project of the Cebu Business Club.

The presentation was made during the 2nd Cebu Local Governance & Development Forum at Marco Polo Hotel.

Among the five projects were the improvement and expansion of junctions of Archbishop Reyes, Salinas Drive, J. Luna and Cuenco Avenues and the Mactan Circumferential Road.

Also included were the UN Avenue flyover in Mandaue City, the Cebu North Coastal Road and the Cebu City Circumferential Road.

Based on the presentation by PBI project team leader Ronilo Balbieran, only two of the five projects were allocated funding from the DPWH central office.

About P300 million were allocated for the expansion of junctions of Archbishop Reyes, Salinas Drive, J. Luna and Cuenco Avenues and another P300 million was set aside for the Mactan Circumferential Road.

The budget for the Cebu City Circumferential Road has yet to be included as a line item in the DPWH-7 fund.

The forum was participated by Cebu business leaders, local officials from the League of the Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) Cebu Chapter and students from the University of San Carlos (USC) Political Science Department.

The PBI is Cebu Business Club’s (CBC) new initiative in the government’s call for Private-Public Partnership.

It is aimed at broadening participation in the allocation and implementation of infrastructure investments to support Cebu’s economic development and poverty reduction.

The Cebu Business Club signed an agreement with various stakeholders to launch the PBI last May.

The signatories consist of the Cebu, Mandaue, and Mactan Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Filipino-Chinese, American, Canadian and European Chamber of Commerce, Cebu Leads Foundation, Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Hotel, Resort and Restaurant Association of Cebu, Chamber of Real Estate and Builders’ Association and the Step Up Young Entrepreneurs’ Association.

The recent Global Competitiveness Report ranked the Philippines 113th in terms of overall state of infrastructure.

The 2011 Local Government Survey also identified infrastructure as the second important local problem in the country next to economy.

During the forum Guillermo Luz, representative of the National Competitiveness Council (NCC) said the role of governance and infrastructure are the ‘make’ or ‘break’ factors that would elevate the Philippines in the Global Competitive Index (GCI).

He said the country’s ranking climbed 10 spots from no. 85 last year to no. 75 in this year’s World Economic Global Competitiveness Report. Correspondent Carmel Loise Matus