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Project KILO, a multibillion-peso national project aimed at addressing decades-long critical issues in the Philippine prison system, and seven other projects were added in the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center’s project pipeline, which now totals ₱2.6 trillion.
Documents shared by the PPP Center with reporters on Monday, March 17, revealed that about ₱130 billion or over five percent was the recorded increase in the cumulative cost of proposed projects in the PPP pipeline. Last month, it stood at ₱2.47 trillion.
Proposed by ENDEC Development Corp., project KILO alone amounted to ₱163.9 billion—significantly larger than the posted increase. According to the PPP Center, the project was endorsed to the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) on March 6 and is now under evaluation by the implementing agency (IA).
As per the proponent, the project aims to resolve “chronic overcrowding, outdated and poorly maintained facilities, inadequate healthcare services, and a severe shortage of professional correctional custodial staff and severe constraints that compromise the safety, security and effectiveness of the nation’s correctional system.”
It also intends to improve living conditions of prisoners and professionalize working conditions for BuCor staff and custodial officers for at least 24 years, ENDEC Development said.
Four new regional prisons, which are yet to be identified, will be built according to international standards, designed to accommodate a total of 55,000 prisoners. Three of these regional prisons will have a super-maximum security or "supermax" prison section for inmates convicted of heinous crimes.
Alongside this is the construction of the BuCor head office and central reception and diagnostic center.
Aside from project KILO, five other national projects joined the list, including the ₱1.56-billion Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) emergency response center; ₱110-million localized online visitor ecosystem (LOVE) Metro Manila: phase two of the Philippine tourism digitalization project; and ₱70-million septage treatment plant in Sagay City, Negros Occidental.
The operations and maintainance (O&M) of Panguil Bay bridge project and public-private partnerships for school infrastructure project connect (PSIP Connect) are the remaining national projects whose costs are yet to be determined. Both of these projects are under conceptualization.
Projects were added based on IA-endorsed unsolicited proposals, IA-submitted PPP project lists, and updates from the PPP Center’s engagement with agencies.
Two solicited local projects complete the eight additional projects: the ₱340-million development of water supply system for the municipality of Mangatarem and TUBO: a tariff and utility blueprint for water operations, a model for the Iligan City waterworks system, with its cost yet to be determined.
6 projects removed
Meanwhile, six projects were removed from the pipeline, with a total cumulative cost of ₱39.5 billion.
There were two national projects delisted: design-build-finance-operate the air navigation services (air traffic service and air navigation service) of the Philippines, costing ₱29.8 billion; and RENEWSTABLE® green hydrogen power plant in Marinduque, Philippines, costing ₱9.6 billion.
The remaining delisted projects were all local digitalized traffic enforcement projects in Cavite, Cainta, Cauayan City, and Pagsanjan—each costing between ₱10 million and ₱20 million.
The reasons for these removals, though not specifically disclosed, include: the IA rejecting unsolicited proposals after evaluation; proponents failing to negotiate their unsolicited proposals; or changes in the projects’ implementation modes.
Other projects removed from the pipeline were the ₱100-million Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr. International Convention Center Project, and ₱1.9-billion Cavite bus rapid transit (BRT) system. These projects are now reflected in the PPP Center’s database of projects under implementation.
