Manila Bulletin,01 April 2013
The country’s first public-private partnership (PPP) social infrastructure project will be the only entry from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in the internationally acclaimed Partnerships Awards 2013, the Philippine PPP Center announced.
It explained that the Department of Education’s (DepEd) PPP for School Infrastructure Project Phase I (PSIP I) have been shortlisted for the “Best Pathfinder Project” category in the Partnership Awards.
Partnerships Awards 2013 is an annual event organized by the Partnerships Bulletin and PPP Bulletin International to recognize and reward outstanding achievements in PPP worldwide.
The PSIP I is the Philippine’s first PPP social infrastructure project, which aims to supplement the current initiatives and program of the government to address the current shortage of public school buildings nationwide.
The project was awarded to Citicore-Megawide Consortium and Bright Future Educational Facilities Inc., that will construct 9,301 one-storey and two-story classrooms with provisions for fixtures and furniture.
The PPP Center said that the school buildings will be built in various sites in Regions I, III and IV-A. Structured under a Build-Lease-Transfer modality, government shall issue annual lease payments to the private proponents for a period of 10 years.
Meanwhile, PPP Center Executive Director Cosette Canilao stressed that the shortlisting of PSIP-I to the Partnerships Awards 2013 is a recognition from the global PPP community that the country is on the right path.
“In recent years, most awardees are entries from Europe and the Americas,” the PPP Center said in a statement.
It also noted that the “Best Pathfinder” category is a recognition given to public infrastructure projects that demonstrate the best “first of its kind” in a sector or region.
It added that for this year, only entries and nominations for deals signed between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2012 were accepted.
The PPP Center continued that industry professionals representing both the public and private sector will judge the entries and the awarding ceremony will take place at Park Plaza Westminster Bridge in London on May 23, 2013.
It mentioned that Partnerships Bulletin and PPP Bulletin International are United Kingdom-based organizations involved in magazine publication and websites that provide in-depth updates on partnership working between the public and private sector.
“Both are sources of information on international PPPs particularly on legislation, regulation, working procedure and market potential. With more than 15 years of exposure in the industry, they have been recognized as credible institutions in terms of private finance initiative and PPPs,” it stated.
