MANILA: Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Florencio Abad reported yesterday that 8.8bn pesos ($197m) had been released for the construction of classrooms for public schools in 14 regions nationwide.
Abad said this is in line with the promise of President Benigno Aquino to close the nationwide classroom gap by 2013 and beef up the local economy and development through flagship public-private partnership (PPP) projects.
In a statement, he said the amount was released to the Department of Education (DepEd) for the implementation of Phase II of the Public-Private Partnership for the School Infrastructure Project (PSIP II).
The PSIP II involves the design and construction of 10,680 classrooms, including school furniture and comfort rooms.
“The release will help the DepEd stay right on track towards its goal of closing the classroom gap by end-2013, as directed by President Aquino,” Abad said.
“Engaging the private sector is key in achieving this, as it will allow the administration to optimize the resources and capacities of the private sector, all the while delivering critical goods and services to the Filipino public,” Abad explained.
He also noted that the DepEd is now authorized to implement the PSIP II through national government financing under a turnkey or build-transfer (BT) contract, besides the option of going through PPP financing under a build-lease-transfer (BLT) contract.
“We’re favouring the turnkey mode of procurement for this PPP project because it’s much more cost-efficient than the BLT process,” Abad said.
The Philippine Star
