“What we will present… [are] the Metro Manila BRT (Bus Rapid Transit). There is one remaining issue — how it will help complement traffic efforts. Then NAIA PPP (Ninoy Aquino International Airport public-private partnership project)… we will re-file it over a minor issue, and the EDSA BRT for the first time will reach the NEDA Board,” Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya told reporters last Friday at the Robinsons Summit Center in Makati City.

The Metro Manila BRT will run for 27.7 kilometers from Quirino Highway to Manila City Hall, passing Quezon Avenue, according to a project brief posted on the agency’s Web site.

The corridor has connections to the Light Rail Transit Line 1, Metro Rail Transit Line 3, and the Philippine National Railway. The system will have around 300 buses and will serve around 279,476 daily passengers when launched in 2018.

Meanwhile, the NAIA Development Project will upgrade all of its terminals to meet the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization. It has an indicative cost of P74.56 Billion, according to the PPP Center’s Web site.

Finally, the EDSA BRT is being prepared as a potential PPP project that will be bigger than Guangzhou’s BRT in China. It will run in mixed traffic, Mr. Abaya said in September.

The agency tapped New York-based consultancy Institute for Transportation & Development Policy, which also designed the Guangzhou BRT, to firm up the details for the EDSA BRT.

Asked if these projects can still be awarded before President Benigno S. C. Aquino III steps down on June 30, 2016, Mr. Abaya replied: “No. But maybe the BRTs still have a chance.”

There is no schedule yet for the next NEDA Board Meeting as President Aquino is traveling to Rome and Paris, NEDA Deputy Director-General for Investment Planning Rolando G. Tungpalan said in a mobile phone reply over the weekend. He added that while the decision is “up to the Palace,” it is still “possible” to hold a meeting next month.

Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma, Jr. replied separately: “Need to verify from NEDA.”

Eleven PPP deals have been awarded since the program was launched in 2010: the P1.72-billion Automatic Fare Collection System, the P2.01-billion Daang Hari-South Luzon Expressway Link Road Project, the P2.50-billion Southwest Integrated Transport System (ITS) Project, the P4-billion ITS South Terminal Project, the P8.69-billion Modernization of Philippine Orthopedic Center project, the P15.86-billion second phase of the NAIA Expressway Project, the P16.43-billion first phase of the PPP for School Infrastructure Project (PSIP), PSIP’s P3.86-billion second phase, the P17.52-billion Mactan-Cebu International Airport Passenger Terminal Building, the P55.51-billion Cavite-Laguna Expressway, and the P64.9-billion LRT Line 1 Cavite Extension and Operation & Maintenance project.

The Orthopedic Center project has since been put on hold after its proponent, a consortium led by Megawide Construction Corp., terminated the deal, citing the government’s failure to fulfill key prerequisites before work can proceed. — Daphne J. Magturo