The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is confident the government will sustain its infrastructure undertaking momentum, as the current administration approves projects at a faster pace but through a careful and thorough process.
NEDA said in a statement yesterday each project in the list of Infrastructure Flagship Program undergoes a rigorous process to ensure its technical, financial, economic and social merits before endorsing the same for final approval of the NEDA Board.
“Since the start of the current administration, the NEDA Board has approved projects at a quicker pace. The economic and infrastructure team continues to process projects through careful analysis and thorough review,” said Ernesto Pernia, socioeconomic planning secretary.
“We want to make sure that these processed projects are sound and well-suited for the development of the country, at the national and subnational levels, and are truly responsive to the needs of the people,” Pernia said.
The phases in the processing of projects include the preparation of a project feasibility study (FS), review and analysis of the FS by the implementing agency, evaluation of projects by the Investment Coordination Committee Technical Board (ICC-TB), review and approval of the ICC Cabinet Committee (ICC-CabCom), before the final approval of the NEDA Board.
Both ICC-TB and ICC-CabCom are NEDA Board inter-agency committees, the former made up of undersecretaries, the latter of secretaries.
There are currently 100 flagship projects under the administration’s Build, Build, Build program, worth at least P4.25 trillion.
Meanwhile, NEDA said it recognizes the need for a strong economic planning agency that will see through the whole of government’s planning cycle from plan formulation to monitoring and evaluation.
“Proposed legislations have been filed in Congress to strengthen NEDA with a bigger role in the implementation of long-term, continuing, integrated and coordinated programs and policies for national development,” Pernia said.
At the Lower House, the Committee on Economic Affairs has approved a substitute bill, also known as the “Economics and Development Planning Act of 2020,” that proposes to convert NEDA into the Department of Economics and Development Planning.
One if its main functions is to oversee the government’s investment programming process to ensure that the plans are translated into programs and projects which are responsive to the sectoral goals and outcomes laid out in the Philippine Development Plan.
“This proposed department would be the country’s primary agency that will make sure that major investment projects are viable, there are no delays in all phases of the project cycle, and are well managed to sustain the infrastructure momentum,” Pernia said.
