Manila rushing to auction 8 infrastructure projects

Manila

THE Philippines is scrambling to auction eight infrastructure projects, mostly airports, worth a total of US$2.76 billion, before a leadership change in June, a top official said on Wednesday.

President Benigno Aquino, whose administration has awarded 12 deals worth US$4.3 billion under his flagship Public-Private Partnership (PPP) scheme, will step down in June after a single six-year term, in line with a constitutional term limit. "If we do the bid submissions by the end of April or early May, we may still be able to award and sign the contracts by June 30," Andre Palacios, executive direct…