|  The government’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) for School Infrastructure Project has attracted an initial pool of 15 companies, according to an official of the Department of Education (DepEd). The three-phase project is estimated to cost P10.5 billion initially and the government intends to pay for the infrastructure construction over 10 years using staggered appropriations from the national government.
Education Undersecretary Francisco M. Varela said at a conference in Makati City Wednesday that as of this week, 15 companies have purchased bid documents for the PPP project. The 15 are apparently a mix of local and foreign companies, some of them listed or affiliated with listed companies. It remains to be seen whether they would partner with other companies later on, said Varela, who declined to disclose other details this early in the process.
The first phase of the PPP for School Infrastructure project has three packages: Northern Luzon (660 schools, 2,050 classrooms), Central Luzon (745 schools, 2,999 classrooms) and Calabarzon (1,097 schools, 4,283 classrooms). The DepEd will accept bids for each package, which means there may be three different winners for the first phase. It is also possible that there may be one winning company if its bids turn out to be the lowest for each package.
The DepEd published in January the invitation to pre-qualify and aims to bid out the first phase of the project, which covers Luzon, in June. The department wants all the classrooms under the three-phase project delivered by July 2013, in time for the start of the school year.
The second and third phases will cover the Visayas and Mindanao.
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by: Riza T. Olchondra, Philippine Daily Inquirer |
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| Gov’t presses upgrade case
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| Wednesday, 22 February 2012 10:56 |
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 UPDATES on Philippine economic developments have been presented to debt watchers as the government pursues its bid to secure the country an investment grade credit rating.
The Finance department said that its chief, Sec. Cesar V. Purisima, met with representatives of Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service in London yesterday to reiterate the case for an upgrade.
"I met with them to continue our dialogue on the strength and resiliency of the Philippine economy, as well as to discuss our view that the Philippines continues to be underrated," Mr. Purisima was quoted as saying in a statement.
"The market has already recognized the Philippines’ resilience and the strength of our credit standing and is rating us as investment grade," he added.
The Finance chief noted that the country secured interest rates of only 5% for its $1.5-billion 25-year global bond offering last month.
"In fact, our bond issuance in January marked the lowest USD coupon ever achieved by an Asian sovereign for a bond with a tenor greater than ten years," he said.
Mr. Purisima is in Europe for a week-long roadshow focused on the government’s public-private partnership (PPP) program.
By Diane Claire J. Jiao
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| Shipping, Logistics Shift To MOA
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| Wednesday, 22 February 2012 09:52 |
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 MANILA, Philippines — Apart from the burgeoning business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, location-based enterprises such as shipping, logistics, and maritime-related companies comprise substantial tenancy in SM Land office buildings, particularly its new TwoE-comCenter development in Mall of Asia Complex (MOAC), Pasay City.
According to an official of SM Land's Commercial Properties Group, increasing demand is being felt from these shipping companies as they seek a "flight to quality" from the traditional Manila port areas, which have been marked by traffic congestion, security concerns, and overall deterioration of facilities and infrastructure over the past decades.
"These companies located in the old port area of Manila have had to contend with less than ideal conditions for conducting business in exchange for proximity to the bay area," explains David Rafael, SM Land senior vice president and head of Commercial Properties Group. "We had recognized this unfulfilled niche and deliberately leveraged the prime bayside location of MOAC to offer an exciting, new alternative business home for these local and multinational logistics and maritime firms."
Rafael issued the statement on the opening of the P2.4-billion TwoE-comCenter, the second in a series of four office buildings to comprise SM Land's premier business hub in MOAC. The 14-level, twin-tower structure has around 102,000 sqm of gross leasable area (GLA), showcasing large floor plates of 2,500 sqm to 3,000 sqm, and up to 6,000 sqm in special floors.
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By ManilaBulletin
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