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InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Education (DepEd) on Wednesday said 15 firms are vying for the contract to build 30,000 classrooms under the public-private partnership (PPP) scheme.
Under the Public-Private Partnership for School Infrastructure Project (PSIP), 30,000 new classrooms would be built in select regions at a cost of P10.4 billion.
Education Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro told reporters that the first batch of new classrooms numbering 9,332 will be bid out on June 29, with the second and third batches auctioned off in the second half of the year in time for construction of the third batch by January 2013.
"We will do all the preliminaries bago mag-December para by January 2013, talagang we can start na," Luistro said.
DepEd Undersecretary Francisco Varela said 15 firms, including foreign companies, have purchased bid documents.
While many of the interested firms are based in the Philippines, DepEd is not ruling out tie-ups with foreign parties, which will be more evident once pre-qualification documents are submitted on March 23, he said.
Luistro said DepEd also is discouraging potential bidders from including “goodwill” in their bids.
"I will be very direct in saying that it would be important for me, as we initiate this project that you remove from the cost, in your budget, anything related to representation, anything related to gifts, whether this is prior to, during, or after the construction because I think that would be bad business," he said.
The PSIP will be undertaken in three contract packages, which will be implemented simultaneously.
Apart from the classrooms, the winning bidder will also undertake the construction of single detached or attached separate boys and girls comfort rooms and restrooms for persons with disability.
The winning bidder will furnish each classroom to include 43 right handed armchairs and two left-handed armchairs as well as teacher's desks and chairs.
Lastly, the winner will provide periodic maintenance of classrooms such as repainting and termite control every 4.5 years.
