Philippines: Infrastructure Preparation and Innovation Facility

Agriculture, natural resources and rural development / Rural flood protection

Transport / Road transport (non-urban) - Transport policies and institutional development - Urban public transport

The current administration under the Ten-Point Socioeconomic Agenda aims to ramp up public infrastructure projects such as national roads, expressways, bridges, airports, subways, and railways. Public spending on infrastructure is expected to reach 7% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2022 or approximately $14.5 billion annually, from the current level of 3.4% of GDP in 2016. To materialize the goals of infrastructure investment, the government requested the Project from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to help the two key agencies responsible for national public infrastructure projects, namely DPWH and DOTr, conduct pre-investment activities which will in turn help accelerate the Investment Coordination Committee review and approval process and ensure timely, high-quality procurement and implementation.

To enhance national capacity, additional access to international sources of innovation, expertise, advice, and best practices would enable DPWH and DOTr to incorporate expertise and innovation in project formulation and implementation. An ADB-funded Project and its international procurement systems would facilitate DPWH and DOTr access to required specific technologies, international expertise, and innovation, complementing and building on nationally available expertise. The Project will help DPWH and DOTr to more effectively execute and implement public infrastructure projects by accelerating the due diligence stages, detailed engineering designs, and the bidding process preparation.

The Project is included in the Country Operations and Business Plan 2017 2019. It contributes to the inclusive economic growth and environmentally-sustainable growth agenda of the Midterm Review of Strategy 2020.

Road and bridge projects prepared.

Water projects prepared.

Rail, public transport, port, and airport projects prepared.

Project management capacity of the government improved.

Output 1. Three contracts have been awarded. The consultant, Arup, has completed the project identification and planning (PIP) phase in October 2018. In the PIP phase, Arup scoped out the projects, prioritized those that are likely to be feasible and implementable within the government's term, and scoped out the next phase of study so that it can be readily engaged. Seven subprojects were identified by the consultant and approved by DPWH for further study under IPIF. DPWH instructed Arup to carry out (i) feasibility study (FS) for 4 projects, i.e. Laguna Lakeshore Road Network Project (LLRN), Samal Island Davao City Connecter Project (SIDC), Bataan Cavite Interlink Bridge Project (BCIB), and North Eastern Luzon Expressway Project (NELEX), (ii) pre-FS of 2 projects, i.e. Sorsogon Samar Link Bridge Project and Bohol-Leyte Lin Bridge Project, and (iii) one transport study, Transport Link Study for Central Visayas. As of 31 August 2021, most of the works are completed and there are some remaining works for LLRN, SIDC and NELEX. The expected completion of the woks is in October 2021. As of 31 August 2021, the detailed design engineering (DED) for Metro Manila Bridges is more than 90% completed and expected completion is in April 2022. The DED for BCIB is more than 20% completed and expected completion will be in September 2022. The recruitment if consulting services for DED for LLRN and independent checking engineer (ICE) for BCIB are ongoing. Awarding are expected in 2021.

Output 2. One contract has been awarded. The consultant was tasked to prepare for six river basins (Apayao-Abulug, Abra, Jalaur, Agus Buayan-Malungon, and Tagum-Libuganon), (i) initial project identification; (ii) flood control master plans (iii) FS, (iv) DED, and (v) bidding documents for selected projects within these river basins. As of 10 September 2021, the initial project identification and the flood control master plan for all six river basins have been completed. The FS for 3 river basins (Abra, Agus and Tagum-Libuganon) are completed, and FS for the remaining 3 river basins (Apayao-Abulug, Jalaur, and Agus Buayan-Malungon) are ongoing and will be completed in December 2021. Following the FS, DPWH will include DED, preparation of bidding documents and tender support as subprojects under the framework contract through contract variations (VO). DPWH will issue the first VO in September 2021 for three river basins for which FS are completed, and another VO in February 2022 for the remaining three basins. Expected completion is December 2023. DPWH plans to procure two contract packages under L3886, i.e. (i) master planning/FS/DED for Allah, Ilog-Hilabangan, and Aklan river basins; and (ii) master planning/FS/DED for Agno, Mag-Asawang Tubig, and Cadac-an (estimated amount: $33.89 million). They will be advertised in October 2021.

Output 3. One contract has been awarded. The consultants were tasked to provide various support large and complex transport projects under various subsectors. DOTr have included various type of the supports for Mindanao Railway, North South Railway Project, Metro Manila Subway, Subic Clark Railway, South Long Haul, MRT-3, Luzon Railways, Common Station, Davao High Priority Bus System, EDSA Greenways, Cebu BRT, New Cebu International Container Port and Mindanao Central Airport. DOTr plans to recruit three consultants for Metro Rail Transit, Line 4, (MRT-4), and recruitment of the DEDC for MRT-4 is ongoing. The DEDC contract will be signed in September/October 2021.

Output 4. The allocation for this output has not been utilized yet. This output aims to (i) support gender design features and gender targets in project preparation, (ii) prepare manuals for project preparation activities in DPWH and DOTr, (iii) provide trainings for project planning and preparation to staff in DPWH and DOTr, and (iv) provide training and project implementation support provided. Item (i) and (iv) are being achieved under the consulting services under output 1, 2 and 3 and the individual consultants mobilized under the TA grant are supporting implementation of the projects. For Item (ii), the detailed needs are being discussed with DPWH and DOTr. Regarding item (iii), the Government use the TA grant for training of Staff and unlikely to use the Loan funds.

All consultants were recruited according to ADB's Guidelines on the Use of Consultants (March 2013, as amended from time to time). Three consulting packages has been advertised in 2nd quarter 2017, following Quality-Based Selection (QBS) to ensure highest possible standard of services. Advance action was undertaken by ADB on behalf of the Government. The consultants mobilized in Q2 2018. DPWH and DOTr will administer and manage the contracts.

The need for individual consultants packages will be reviewed.

The following firm consultants were mobilized in Q2 2018.

Output 1 Roads and Bridges (DPWH): Ove Arup & Partners Hong Kong Ltd. (UKG)

Output 2 Water/Flood Management (DPWH): Egis Eau (France), Inclam (Spain), Korea Engineering Consultants Corp. (Korea)

Output 3 Transportation (DOTr): Ove Arup & Partners Hong Kong Ltd. (UKG)