Marawi reconstruction to boost ARMM investment

COTABATO CITY --The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which is the poorest region in the country, is set to get a big boost in investments, if the plans of the administration of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Marawi proceeds apace and bears fruit as it is envisioned.Housing Secretary Eduardo del Rosario, Task Force Bangon Marawi chair, announced earlier that the government has received six (6) proposed master plans for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Marawi City, with investment costs ranging from P38 billion to P86 billion.Whoever is chosen would be subjected to a Swiss challenge, where other developers could submit a competing bid to match the proposal. The government would select either a lower bid offering the same quality as the chosen proposal, or a better offer to the one proposed by the lowest bidder.The reconstruction of Marawi will be a build-transfer or turnkey investment project, where the developer will design and construct the project before turning it over to the government.Under the Investment Priorities Plan 2017-2019 as promulgated by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte among the investment projects that may avail of fiscal incentives to be approved by the Board of Investments, or in the case of investment projects in the ARMM, by the Regional Board of Investments (RBOI), are Infrastructure and Logistics including LGU-PPP – This covers the establishment and operations of physical infrastructures vital to the country’s economic development and prosperity. Since the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Marawi City is a build-transfer or turnkey investment project, it will involve huge up front investment costs for the developer. The availment of fiscal and non-fiscal incentives from RBOI can bolster the viability and efficiency of the project and attract the best developers. The long lead time for such reconstruction projects would also need some cushion for risks that the incentives from RBOI can help mitigate. We certainly welcome the potential big boost in investments to the region and stand ready to evaluate the eligibility of the investments of the developer and other downstream players in the Marawi reconstruction for incentives from our office, said Lawyer Ishak Mastura, RBOI chair and managing head.