Teo hoping PPP will solve Mindanao’s infrastructure lack

DAVAO CITY—The lack of transportation infrastructure may dampen the government’s aim of increasing tourism in Mindanao during President Duterte’s term.

But, according to Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo, this could be addressed through the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Program, a decades-old initiative that only came to fruition in the last administration.

“Yes, we are looking at tapping the [PPP] Program. There is actually a budget for us, but our budget for 2017 was already used last year,” she told the BusinessMirror in a chance interview here.

She was referring to the Tourism Road Infrastructure Project Prioritization Criteria, more commonly known as TRIPPC, a program that aims to develop roads leading to tourist sites.

The P60-billion tourism road-infrastructure master plan is part of the convergence program of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Department of
Tourism (DOT).

It was pioneered in 2011, with the aim of constructing, upgrading, rehabilitating and improving roughly 463 roads and bridges.

Among the major tourism road projects completed and ongoing include the 5.6-kilometers access road to Puerto Princesa City Underground River, also leading to mangrove forest, white-sand beach, Sabang zipline and Ugong rock mountain in Palawan; the 44.6-km Taytay-El Nido Road, Palawan; the 11-km Ambangeg Junction National Road to Mount Pulag, known for its magnificent view of sunrise and sunset, in Benguet; the 24-km access roads to Donsol, Sorsogon, famous for whale-shark viewing, locally known as butanding; the 41-km Panglao Island Circumferential Road leading to location of  Bohol’s beach resorts and dive spots; and the 31-km Island Garden City of Samal Circumferential Road, which provides access to Pearl Farm Beach Resort and Samal Botanical Garden on Samal Island, Davao del Norte.

“I’m sure by 2018, we will have a bigger budget. But for now, we are asking for an additional P200 million to support other projects,” Teo said.

This will, hopefully, support the tourism department’s target of scaling up tourist arrivals in Mindanao through President Duterte’s term.

“The target that has been set is to really increase it by 10 [percent] to 20 percent, but that would actually depend upon the logistics support when it comes to infrastructure,”  Tourism Assistant Secretary Eden Josephine L. David said.

Over the last six years, tourist arrivals in the five regions in Mindanao grew by 10 percent on the average.

Last year saw Region 9 reporting a total of 800,000 visitors; Region 10, with 2.7 million arrivals; Region 11, with 2.8 million visitors; Region 12, with about a million arrivals; and Region 13, with 1.2 million visitors.

“There’s really an increase in number of tourists for Mindanao over the last few years,” David said. “That’s why there is a Mindanao Logistics Plan, which will support road travel across Mindanao.”

The tourism department has partnered with the Mindanao Development Authority to craft the Mindanao Logistics Plan, a proposed blueprint that aims to complement infrastructure development in the area.

“The Mindanao Tourism Development Plan would have to be started by 2017, when we start consolidating the efforts of each of the regions,” David said.

source:  Business Mirror