Pasay City – The Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF) Acting Deputy Executive Director Ricardo L. Bobis, Jr. And the Department of Finance (DOF) Privatization and Corporate Affairs Group (PCAG) Undersecretary Catherine L. Fong, supported the proposed House Bill No. 1974 or the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Act, in a public hearing of the Senate Committee on Public Works, joint with Committees on Economic Affairs, Ways and Means, and Finance, chaired by Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr., on 18 April 2023, at Senator Pecson Room, 2^nd Floor, Senate of the Philippines, Pasay City.

Senators Revilla, Joel Villanueva, and Joseph Victor Ejercito expressed their support for the passage of the Act in strengthening the country’s PPP Program, and address the ambiguities of the existing laws, aligned with the priority legislative agenda of the Marcos administration.

In a message of support, BLGF Acting Deputy Executive Director Bobis, Jr. underscored the potential of the proposed bill to reinforce the revenue generation capacities of local government units (LGUs) and implement the rules and regulations on real property appraisal and assessment.

“The Bureau of Local Government Finance fully supports the declared State policy that the private sector is an indispensable component in sustainable development. In general, the bureau supports the priority bill on PPP which will enforce the good intention of the arrangement, as well as help in sustaining the revenue generation of the LGUs. Likewise, the BLGF supports the issuance of guidelines on the Real Property Valuation PPP projects for uniform and consistent implementation among LGUs, in consonance with the DOF mandate to promulgate necessary rules and regulations for real property appraisal and assessment”, Director Bobis, Jr. said.

Moreover, the PPP Act is said to be a part of the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028 and the Medium-Term Fiscal Framework, which aims to unify existing legal frameworks into one law to strengthen and stabilize the partnership between the public and private sectors. LGUs’ autonomy of approving local PPP projects with the private sector shall be retained in the proposed measure.

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Department of Transportation, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP), European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, and Aboitiz Infrastructure Capital also expressed their support during the hearing.