The Philippines’ Public-Private Partnership for School Infrastructure Project Phase III, known as PSIP III, has moved through another procurement stage, with the PPP Center publishing revised Instructions to Bidders on October 8 and Bid Bulletin No. 29 on October 14. The programme, approved in January at an estimated 105.7 billion pesos, covers approximately 16,459 classrooms across Luzon, including the National Capital Region, the Cordillera Administrative Region and Regions I, II, III, IV-A, IV-B and V.
The structure is build, lease and transfer. Private partners finance, build and maintain the classrooms, including furniture and demolition of existing structures at selected sites, while the Department of Education retains teaching and school administration. The indicative contract runs 11 years and five months, with about 17 months of construction followed by a 10 year payment period, so the state spreads the construction cost over a decade of lease payments and takes on a long term payment commitment in exchange.
Procurement for the first wave, Packages A1 to A3, launched on April 8. An infrastructure market report on October 12 put the revised bid submission deadline at November 13, a date the PPP Post notes remains subject to confirmation through the latest official documents. Bid evaluation and private partner selection follow submission.
Earlier phases delivered 13,391 classrooms over more than a decade. The Department of Education has projected about 57,000 jobs from PSIP III and class sizes falling from about 50 learners to 39, with target completion in March 2028 or within 19 months of contract signing. Those are programme projections, not outcomes, and the financing question for bidders is the reliability of the lease payment stream behind them.