Education, PPP programs approved
President Marcos approved on Thursday three initiatives meant to speed up human capital development, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said on Friday.
At its meeting on Thursday, the Neda board chaired by Mr. Marcos greenlit the Basic Education Development Plan (BEDP) for 2030 of the Department of Education, the country’s first medium-term plan for basic education that aims to tackle students’ learning losses during the pandemic. Neda said the BEDP would cover formal K-to-12 education, out-of-school youth, and adults.
Mr. Marcos also approved changes to the terms of University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) Cancer Center, a public-private partnership (PPP) project that would build a 300-bed hospital with state-of-the-art cancer treatment to both charity and paying patients.
Particularly, the president cleared the proposed increase in construction cost to P9.49 billion, from P6.05 billion previously, due to the rise in a built-up area (from 20 to 27 floors) and the procurement of technology and equipment to provide patients and medical students with world-class services and facilities for education. To cover the additional expenses, the UP-PGH updated the bidding documents to comply with the PPP mode of procurement. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2027 and will start operations by early 2028.
Lastly, Mr. Marcos gave his go signal to the new guidelines on reviewing and approving national PPP proposals following the enactment of the PPP Code and its implementing rules and regulations.
Under the new guidelines, the Neda board’s Investment Coordination Committee (ICC) must approve projects costing P15 billion and above within 113 calendar days, with a maximum limit of 120 calendar days.
For projects below P15 billion, ICC approvals should be completed in 83 to 90 calendar days, with a possible extension of up to 120 calendar days.
