The government is planning to pursue public-private partnerships (PPPs) in the operation of the country’s toll roads.

Public Works and Highways Secretary Rogelio Singson Monday said they have identified several “high-priority” expressways that could be sold to the private toll operators.

Among these toll roads are the Cavite-Laguna East-West National Road, South Luzon Expressway (SLEX)- East extension project, Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) expressway, and the elevated road to connect North Luzon Expressway and SLEX, according to Singson.

“There has been an ongoing study as to what are the potential toll roads within a 200-kilometer radius from Metro Manila and this was presented to the contractors and the operators of toll roads last week.

After this we also intend to call in to bankers for them to take interest in these toll roads,” Singson said in a news conference in the Palace.

In his State of the Nation Address before Congress last week, President Aquino said his government would forge public-private partnerships to expand development projects without using up all its resources.

Mr. Aquino said PPPs was the creative means to generate funds and address the country’s problems on the lack of infrastructure, insufficient social services, and poor state of the military and police.

Public-private partnership, initiated during the administration of the late President Corazon Aquino, was a strategy to allow the use of private funds to bankroll public projects needed to promote development.