Department of Transportation and Communications
(DoTC) Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya fired back on former Budget and
Social Security System chief Romulo Neri on the latter’s allegation that
the current economic team of the government has no enough legal and
technical expertise to pursue public-private partnership (PPP) projects.
“That is not true. There are just processes and clarifications made just to ensure it is clear what government wants and private sector knows what they are bidding for,” Abaya told the Daily Tribune.
It was evident that Abaya didn’t like Neri’s pronouncement as he strongly defended the PPP, saying everything is being exerted to push the projects no matter what it takes.
“PPP allows private sector to be channeled towards infra. They complement government funds or at least allow government to channel some funds towards human capital development and social protection as part of the inclusive growth of government,” Abaya, who was a three-term Cavite congressman, said.
He said anybody, especially those from the past administrations, have the right to criticize the PPP but not to the extent that the criticism will be like a sort of having crab mentality.
Abaya also shot down proposals that government should abandon PPP and use the billions of pesos of official development assistance (ODA) given by Japan, European Union and United States for a very low interest.
“ODA has its advantages but going all ODA has its drawback and the ODA process also takes time,” he said.
Neri earlier said current technocrats are adamant to push for the PPP as they might be charged criminally for just a simple mistake.
He said PPP is a very complex contractual arrangement that is like an irritant to government executives to implement.
“That’s why government bureaucrats tend to be extra cautious. They don’t get rewarded for success but get punished for slight missteps,” he said.
source: Daily Tribune
“That is not true. There are just processes and clarifications made just to ensure it is clear what government wants and private sector knows what they are bidding for,” Abaya told the Daily Tribune.
It was evident that Abaya didn’t like Neri’s pronouncement as he strongly defended the PPP, saying everything is being exerted to push the projects no matter what it takes.
“PPP allows private sector to be channeled towards infra. They complement government funds or at least allow government to channel some funds towards human capital development and social protection as part of the inclusive growth of government,” Abaya, who was a three-term Cavite congressman, said.
He said anybody, especially those from the past administrations, have the right to criticize the PPP but not to the extent that the criticism will be like a sort of having crab mentality.
Abaya also shot down proposals that government should abandon PPP and use the billions of pesos of official development assistance (ODA) given by Japan, European Union and United States for a very low interest.
“ODA has its advantages but going all ODA has its drawback and the ODA process also takes time,” he said.
Neri earlier said current technocrats are adamant to push for the PPP as they might be charged criminally for just a simple mistake.
He said PPP is a very complex contractual arrangement that is like an irritant to government executives to implement.
“That’s why government bureaucrats tend to be extra cautious. They don’t get rewarded for success but get punished for slight missteps,” he said.
source: Daily Tribune
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