Almost 10,000 classrooms have been constructed under the Aquino Administration’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project that addresses shortage of classrooms in public schools across the country.
Following the recent opening of the school year, the Department of Education (DepEd) and the PPP Center reported that at least 8,870 classrooms have been constructed in Regions 1, 3 and 4A under the Phase 1 of the PPP for School Infrastructure Project.
As of May 15, 416 classrooms are still under construction for Phase 1 while 16 more are under pre-construction stage. The completed and delivered classrooms are expected to benefit at least 2.66 million students in Ilocos, Central Luzon and Calabarzon Area.
Meanwhile, at least 1,020 classrooms have been constructed in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Regions 1, 2, 3, 10, and 13 for Phase 2. According to the DepEd and PPP Center, at least 1,434 classrooms are still under construction while 1,916 more are under pre-construction stage. Once Phase 2 is completed, it will benefit 1,895 public schools in six regions.
To recall, the P16.43-billion Phase 1 project to design, finance and construct 9,303 classrooms with furniture has been awarded to the Consortium of BF Corp.-Riverbanks Development Corp. and the joint venture of Citicore Holdings Investment, Inc. and Megawide Construction Corp.
Meanwhile, the P3.86-billion Phase 2 project to design, finance and contruct 4,370 classrooms with fixtures and toilets has been awarded to Megawide Construction Corp. and the Consortium of BSP Co. Inc. and Vicente Lao Construction.
Unlike the Phase 1, which is carried out under a build-least-transfer agreement, Phase 2 follows a build-transfer structure. There is also a 10-year cooperation period for Phase 1 unlike in Phase 2.
02 June 2015
By Kris Bayos
