Government releases P2B to boost PPP

THE Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has released P1.96 billion for classroom-construction projects and right-of-way claims under the administration's Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program. 

Of the total amount, P1.63 billion will be used to cover the first-year lease payment for the Public-Private Partnership for School Infrastructure Project (PSIP) of the Department of Education (DepEd).

It involves the design, construction, and maintenance of 9,301 classrooms -- as well as school furniture and toilet facilities -- in various schools in Ilocos Region, Central Luzon and Calabarzon.

"President Aquino intends to fill the longstanding classroom gap in our public school system. By working closely with the private sector, we can expedite classroom construction and do it in a cost-efficient way, so that our students and teachers will have enough classrooms by 2013," Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said. 

Under the project, the government will make an annual payment of P1.63 billion until 2021 to acquire the classrooms that were built through private sector initiatives.

The release will be charged against the DepEd's appropriation for Requirements for Basic Educational Facilities in the 2012 General Appropriations Act (GAA).

The DBM also approved the release of P328 million to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for right-of-way acquisition costs and tree replacements, comprising the government’s contribution to the construction of the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEx). 

The right-of-way acquisition cost, totalling P327.8 million, is chargeable against the PPP Strategic Support Fund under DPWH's budget in the 2012 GAA.

These are included in the special provision of DPWH's budget in the 2012 GAA, which authorizes the agency to use the amount appropriated for PPPSSF to pay for government obligations created under contracts between DPWH and private partners, including acquisition of right of way.

The remaining P180,000 will be used to purchase tree seedlings to replace trees that were cut or displaced by the construction.

The TPLEx is an 88.58-kilometer, two-lane expressway that stretches from Tarlac City, Tarlac, passing through Pangasinan, up to Rosario, La Union. The expressway is expected to be opened to the public in May 2013. (Jill Beltran/Sunnex)