NHA to be exempted from NEDA’s guidelines on joint venture to expedite Marawi rehabilitation

February 6, 2018

President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the National Housing Authority to be exempted from the National Economic and Development Authority Guidelines on Joint Venture to accelerate the rebuilding of war-torn Marawi City.

Executive Order No. 49 signed on February 5 and released to the public on Tuesday said the exemption of NHA from NEDA Guidelines on Joint Venture would simplify documentary requirements and procedures, "thereby expedite the commencement of rehabilitation projects" in Marawi.

Prior to the EO, the NHA, an attached agency of the National Urban Development Coordinating Council, was required to follow NEDA's "Revised Guidelines and Procedures for Entering into Joint Venture Agreements between Government and Private Entities."

Under EO 49, the NHA shall formulate and issue its own guidelines regarding the JVAs under the supervision of the HUDCC and in consultation with the NEDA, the Public-Private Partnership Center, and the Department of Budget and Management.

But it said the guidelines that the NHA will formulate shall apply only to "recovery, reconstruction and rehabiliation projects for the most affected areas of Marawi."

The guidelines shall also "promote efficiency, transparency, competitiveness and accountability in covered transactions; require the participation of agencies with mandates directly relevant to the project in the JVA selection and contracting process; and be consistent with all applicable laws, rules and regulations," the EO read.

The Order will take effect immediately upon its publication in a national newspaper of general circulation.

Marawi has been devastated due to 5-month fighting between the government troops and the Islamic State-inspired Maute terrorists from May to October last year. Celerina Monte/DMS