DepEd bids out P93-M school repair projects

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Education (DepEd) has started the bidding process for the repair and rehabilitation of public elementary and high schools amounting to more than P93 million that was funded in 2014.

In an invitation to bid published in The STAR yesterday, the DepEd regional office in Eastern Visayas called for contractors interested in undertaking the repair and rehabilitation of 78 schools.

The funding will come from the Basic Education Facilities Fund included in the 2014 budget.

The DepEd was earlier criticized for failing to implement programs despite funding from the government.

Education Secretary Armin Luistro said they have faced problems in bidding some of the funded projects.

Based on the bid notice, the cost of the project ranges from P297,000 to P3 million per school.

The pre-bid conference is set on Nov. 25, while the opening of bids will be on Dec. 9.

“Prospective bidders must have an experience of having completed at least one contract that is similar to the contract to be bid, and whose value, adjusted to current prices using the National Statistics Office consumer price indices, must be at least 50 percent of the approved budget for the cluster/lot to be bid,” said DepEd.

The DepEd said the repair and rehabilitation of the schools should be completed from two to five months, depending on the project, upon approval of the contract.