Contractors may still bid to build public school classrooms

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Education (DepEd) has moved to the end of the month the deadline for bids for its P8.7-billion second public-private partnership (PPP) contract for the construction of more than 10,000 public school classrooms next year.

The DepEd said it extended the deadline to July 30 from the original July 17 after bidders asked for more time to prepare their documents.

The new deadline is 10:10 a.m. of that day at the Bulwagan ng Karunungan at the DepEd central office on Meralco Avenue, Pasig City.

Dubbed PPP for School Infrastructure Project (PSIP) II, the DepEd’s second go at hiring private contractors will cover the construction of 10,679 classrooms in 5,167 schools in 14 regions.

The DepEd last October awarded the P16.2-billion PSIP I contract for the construction of 9,301 one- and two-story classrooms in 2,204 public schools in the Ilocos, Central Luzon and Calabarzon regions to the BF Corp.-Riverbanks Development Corp. and Citicore Holdings Investment Inc.-Megawide Construction Corp. Inc. consortiums. Both groups are also bidding for the PSIP II contract.

Erase the shortage

The DepEd aims to erase this year the shortage of 66,800 public schools classrooms when the Aquino administration came into office.

The agency said 43,424 new classrooms had been built since 2010.

The P16.2-billion PSIP I is a build-lease-transfer arrangement with a 10-year payment period during which the contractors must maintain the classrooms.

Build-transfer contract

The PSIP II is a build-transfer contract wherein the DepEd takes ownership of the classrooms and pays the contractors as soon as construction is over.

The DepEd PSIP is one of the only three PPP projects undertaken in the first three years of the Aquino administration despite high expectations for PPPs when the President took office.