P50-B prison project auction set for Nov. 24

The Duterte administration wants a new prison facility, and will pursue an earlier-approved public private partnership project for a  larger facility to house inmates in Metro Manila’s crammed penitentiaries.

The PPP Center Thursday said that its P50.2-billion Regional Prison Facilities project would proceed, with the  bid submission deadline moved to Nov. 24 from the previous deadline of Aug. 25, 2016.

The PPP deal could be the first among the projects left hanging by the Aquino administration to be implemented by the current leadership.

President Duterte, who won on a platform promising to crack down on crime and drugs, said he would continue the PPP program started by the previous administration.

The new prison facility will be located north of Metro Manila in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija  according to the Department of Justice, which is implementing the project.

The prison facility project under the PPP framework calls for the private sector to finance, design, build and maintain the facility for a period of 23 years. The government said the winner will be determined on the lowest complying offer based on the present value of the proposed payments for the prison facility.

The planned facility is expected to accommodate 26,880 inmates. The project also covers staff housing and administrative buildings, areas for rehabilitation (sports, work and religious activity), and the installation of high security equipment, the PPP Center said.

Three groups have prequalified for the project. These are Mega Structure Consortium, San Miguel Holdings Corp. and DM Consunji, Inc.

The project, likely the first of several PPP prison projects around the Philippines, was aimed at addressing worsening congestion at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa and the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong.

According to an information memorandum issued by the DOJ and the Bureau of Corrections, national penitentiary facilities “are severely congested and worn out.”

Based on its data at the end of 2012, the New Bilibid prison had 21,106 inmates, or 134 percent more than its designed capacity. It was a similar figure for the Correctional Institution for Women, which had 2,016 inmates or 102 percent above the optimal capacity.