2 firms win P16.5-billion PPP classroom project

MANILA, Philippines - Two construction firms won contracts for the P16.5-billion public-private partnership (PPP) School Infrastructure Project (PSIP) of the Department of Education (DepEd).

Megawide Corp. and BF Corp., the firm of former Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chairman Bayani Fernando, will undertake the construction of 9,301 classrooms in Ilocos, Central Luzon and Calabarzon.

Francis Varela, DepEd undersecretary for finance and administration, said the BF Corp.-Riverbanks Development Corp. consortium submitted the lowest lease payment terms bid for Package A and Citicore Holdings Investment, Inc.-Megawide Construction Corp. Inc. consortium submitted the lowest bid for Packages B and C.

“We’re happy with the bid results considering that we set the terms tight,” he said.

Varela told The STAR they can finish post-evaluation of the bids by next week to enable the two consortiums to start construction by September.

“We can conclude the financial bids are in order by next week and then they (winning bidders) go to the steps for financial closing,” he said.

DepEd will construct more than 9,000 classrooms, including school furniture and toilets, in 2,204 public schools in Ilocos, Central Luzon and Calabarzon.

The P16.5-billion PSIP bid is just the first phase and they could again conduct a bidding for 10,000 classrooms within this year, Varela said.

Four of the six groups that DepEd had pre-qualified to participate in the bid had backed out due to concerns on low potential profit margins.

The PSIP is the DepEd’s first PPP project for education infrastructure to be awarded through competitive public bidding in accordance with Republic Act 6957, the Build-Operate-Transfer Law as amended by RA 7718.

The two groups submitted technical and financial proposals for the PSIP last July 18. Their models or “mock-up” two-story school buildings had passed the technical requirements of the DepEd special bids committee.

As part of their technical proposal, each bidder constructed a two-story, four-classroom mock-up structure in Sta. Isabel Elementary School and in Malolos Marine National High School in Bulacan.

A technical team composed of representatives from DepEd, the Department of Public Works and Highways, the Department of Labor and Employment’s Occupational Health and Safety Center, and the Ernst and Young Consortium (the DepEd PSIP’s transaction adviser) inspected the mock-up structures against the PSIP’s minimum performance specification and standards.

Upon acceptance of the classrooms, a 10-year lease period will commence and DepEd makes annual payments to the winning bidder. During the lease period, the winning bidder undertakes periodic maintenance activities on the classroom structures every 4.5 years to five years while the DepEd is responsible for dealing with daily wear-and-tear.

The PSIP’s next phases will be implemented in the Visayas and Mindanao.  It is a build-lease transfer contract for the design, construction and maintenance of 9,301 classrooms (with toilets and furniture) in Ilocos Region, Central Luzon and Calabarzon for a period of 10 years.