By Marc Cosep 
PIO Digital Media Specialist

CEBU CITY (Sept.28, 2022) — Local Government Units like Cebu City are encouraged to engage in Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in other sectors, not just transportation.

In a zoom conference spearheaded by the Regional Development Council-7, Feroisa Concordia, Public-Private Partnership Center (PPPC) of the Philippines director for capacity building, noted that most PPP projects undertaken by LGUs are mainly focused on the transportation and logistics sectors.

Feroisa Concordia. (Photo grabbed from PPPC website)

PPP, she said, can very well be adopted in the development of other key sectors like healthcare, agro-industrial sectors, and sectors involving sustainability.

“Over the years, PPP projects are focused on only a few sectors like bridges. We need to take advantage and cover all the other sectors as well,” Concordia said.

In Cebu City, though, Mayor Mike Rama previously expressed and had gone to Manila to tap the private sector for the completion of the Cebu City Medical Center, through his “investment-begging”.

He had also said that the proposed construction of an aerial-ropeway transit, or a cable car system, in the city will likewise be under a PPP scheme.

A cable car that goes to the hinterlands of the town is one of Mayor Mike Rama’s plans to achieve a “Singapore-like” Cebu City. (PIO/File)

PPPs are contractual arrangements entered into by the government with the private sector. Under a PPP scheme, the private sector can build, operate and maintain public infrastructure facilities and provide services traditionally delivered by the government.

Concordia, who has been working with PPPC in Manila for more than 10 years and has worked with the National Economic and Development Authority, said even President Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr. called for LGUs to get into more PPPs as a mode of financing their projects.

Over the years, PPP projects are focused on only a few sectors like bridges. We need to take advantage and cover all the other sectors as well.

Feroisa Concordia, Public-Private Partnership Center (PPPC) of the Philippines

Concordia said that for a PPP to be successful, an LGU must create a “comprehensive and substantial” study before presenting it to the private sector for possible funding and partnership.

She cited the newly-opened Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway as one example of a successful PPP project that addresses the immediate needs of the community in Cebu.

She acknowledged, though, the difficulty in building PPP projects in the local setup because of the quick turnover of officials.

Feroisa Concordia exlains the basic fundamentals of a PPP during an online forum spearheaded by the Regional Development Council-7. (Screen grabbed from Zoom forum)

That is why, she said, LGUs must complete the initial stages of the project before the completion of an administration’s three-year term.

She assured those in attendance, who included Central Visayas mayors, that PPPC is always open to assist them.

“We are always happy to help and we would love to assist you because we also want to see developments without further delays para mas maximize ng ating mga constituents as well,” she said. # 

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