P8-B contract to build more than 10,000 classrooms to be bid out Thursday

INQUIRER file photo

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Education (DepEd) will bid out an P8-billion contract to construct more than 10,000 classrooms under its second public-private partnership on Thursday, according to education officials.

Four contractors, which were earlier deemed qualified, have been scheduled to submit their bids on Thursday, July 18, Assistant Secretary for legal and legislative affairs Tonisito Umali said on Tuesday.

The submitted bids will be opened the same day, according to Umali.

Umali said the two consortia, which bagged in 2012 the P16.2-billion contract under the first PPP also joined the public bidding for the second PPP contract worth P8 billion.

Dubbed the Public-Private Partnership for School Infrastructure Project (PSIP), these two PPP projects are DepEd’s way to cut as fast as possible the shortage of 66,800 classrooms in public schools when the Aquino administration assumed office in 2010.

DepEd reported that 43,424 new classrooms have been built through government funds and donations, from 2010 up to June 30.

DepEd’s PSIP is one of the only three PPP projects that have been bid out in the three years of the Aquino administration, despite the initial hype for PPP’s when the President assumed office.

Assistant Secretary for planning Jesus Mateo said the success of their PPP undertaking rested on a careful study of several factors.

“We evaluated the potential players if there will be takers, and we studied if it is viable,” he said.

The P16.2 billion PSIP I involves a build-lease-transfer arrangement with the winning contractors, Megawide Corp. Consortium and BF Corp. Consortium, which will maintain the classrooms while DepEd pays an annual fee over 10 years.

They are building a total of 9,301 one-story and two-story classrooms in 2,204 public schools in three regions namely Regions I, III and IV-A.

While the contract was awarded in October 2012, the construction only got underway last March. At least 4,724 classrooms are targeted to be built in 2013.

Umali attributed the construction delay to the “weather and procurement delays.”

Meanwhile, PSIP II estimated to cost about P8.8 billion is a build-transfer arrangement, where DepEd will take over the classrooms and pay the contractors as soon as these are built.

This involves the construction of a total 10,679 classrooms in 5,167 schools in 14 regions.

DepEd said the PSIP I contract cost was higher since this factored in the 10-year payment period and the periodic maintenance of the classrooms every four and half years.