Infrastructure and engineering firm Megawide Construction Corp. is keen on participating in the Department of Education’s (DepEd) plan to bid out the construction of 16,459 classrooms worth ₱105.7 billion.

As Manila Bulletin earlier reported, the DepEd said in an invitation to bid issued last week that it is now welcoming interested parties to bid for the first three contract packages under Phase 3 of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) for School Infrastructure Project (PSIP III) meant to address the country’s worsening classroom shortage.

“We are highly interested to participate in PSIP 3. In fact, we have the track record in the same government project, having participated in PSIP Phases 1 and 2 for the construction of around 10,000 units from 2012 to 2014,” Megawide Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Edgar Saavedra told Manila Bulletin last Monday, April 13.

He noted that, “This will boost our social infrastructure portfolio, which is currently made up of socialized housing (through the expanded 4PH program) and public market (via the Carbon Market redevelopment).”

The Megawide chief was referring to the Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino (4PH) program, the government’s flagship socialized housing initiative aimed at accelerating the provision of affordable housing, and the Carbon Market redevelopment in Cebu City, a major urban renewal project modernizing one of the country’s largest and oldest public markets into a mixed-use commercial hub.

Saavedra noted that Megawide has the platform and technology—its precast and construction solutions—that can accelerate and modernize classroom building construction in the country.

Similar to its mechanized socialized housing methodology under the expanded 4PH program, Saavedra said it can use this technology to support the government’s goal of constructing modern, high-quality, and disaster-resilient school buildings.

Implemented under a build-lease-transfer arrangement, the contract packages cover the design, construction, and maintenance of more than 3,500 classrooms that will be built primarily in existing schools located in Luzon regions.

The first contract focuses on the northern part of the country, covering 1,094 classrooms in Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, and Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).

The second package involves the development of 1,015 classrooms in Metro Manila and Mimaropa, while the third contract includes the highest number of classrooms at 1,454, which will be constructed in Central Luzon, Calabarzon, and Bicol Region.

The DepEd said the estimated construction period for all 3,563 classrooms is 17 months, with the total contract duration set at 11 years and five months, and a payment period of 10 years.

Interested bidders for one or any number of contract packages may submit their bid documents to the DepEd through its prequalification, bids, and awards committee (PBAC) until Aug. 24. The DepEd’s PBAC for PSIP III will hold a pre-bid conference for the project on May 4, open to all prospective bidders.

The target date for contract signing with the winning bidders is set for August, with construction expected to begin in March next year.

PSIP III will be the largest classroom PPP in the country’s history. DepEd data showed that more than 13,000 classrooms were constructed under the first two phases of PSIP.

By relying on the private sector to build the classrooms, the DepEd estimates that the government could save around ₱40.17 billion under PSIP III.

Once operational, the new classrooms are expected to benefit up to 800,000 students annually, with millions more benefiting from reduced congestion in more than 1,000 public schools. As a result, the average class size is projected to decrease from 50 to around 39 students.