ON ALERT -- Security personnel inspect passengers' baggage at a Light Rail Transit (LRT) station in Manila. Authorities are on full alert to secure all vital installations, economic key points, transport terminals and airports in the country for possible retaliatory terror attacks in the wake of the death of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a U.S.-led operation in Pakistan. The Light Rail Transit Administration(LRTA) ,for its part, said that security measures are already in place even before the death of the terrorist behind the 9/11 attacks in the United States that killed thousands of people.

Int'l contractors eye $5.8B rail projects

THE Philippines is inviting Chinese and other international contractors to participate in the country’s $12.1-billion major transport sector infrastructure development program, including seven urban rail mass transit projects amounting to $5.8 billion, through the public private partnership (PPP) scheme.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) bared that a report from the Philippine Embassy in Beijing said that Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary Rogelio L. Singson, speaking at the 2nd International Infrastructure Investment and Construction Forum (IIICF) in Beijing on Thursday, emphasized that the Philippine government is offering a wide range of investment opportunities in transport infrastructure development, including toll roads, airports, seaports and urban rail mass transit projects.

"We invite you to consider these opportunities and other investment opportunities in the Philippines," Singson told the IIICF, which was organized by the China International Contractors Association (CHINCA).

Singson said that the country's immediate major transport infrastructure development will cover 13 toll roads worth US$ 6 billion, three seaports costing $ 130 million and three airport projects worth $ 150 million.

He stressed that the Philippine government has instituted and continues to make significant changes to make the investment climate in the Philippines more investor friendly, with less red-tape and corruption free.

He added that in the next five years until 2016, the Philippines will implement an aggressive program to improve the quality and safety of the country's 31,000 kilometers of national roads and bridges.

Singson pointed out that the $ 12.1 billion transport infrastructure project does not include investment opportunities through PPP in energy, mining, food production and other social services projects.

"Bottom line, the Philippines offers good opportunities for infrastructure investments. Under our PPP program, we are open to various modes of implementation," he said.

Singson was also in Beijing in April when the PPP roadshow delegation to China led by Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima received a "positive response" and "strong interest" from Chinese government and business leaders to participate in the country's PPP projects.

Singson and members of the Philippine Constructors Association (PCA), led by its president Levy Espiritu, met with CHINCA members led by its Chairman Diao Chunhe, on May 25 to discuss viable modes of cooperation and widen networking opportunities between the two groups.

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