MANILA — The Department of Public Works and Highways has opened bidding for seismic retrofitting and strengthening works covering 21 public-school buildings in Manila and Taguig, under a World Bank-backed program aimed at reducing earthquake risk in Metro Manila.
The work is divided across three current procurement packages under the Philippines Seismic Risk Reduction and Resilience Project (PSRRRP). Contract Package 5 covers 13 public-school buildings in Taguig City, Package 6 covers seven buildings in Manila City, and Package 7 covers one additional public-school building in Manila. Bids for all three packages are due on September 29, 2026.
The tender notices describe the work as retrofitting, strengthening and seismic upgrading, together with multi-hazard and functional improvements. Package 5 has a specified contract period of 639 calendar days, while Packages 6 and 7 each specify 397 calendar days.
From training to actual retrofit work
The procurement follows another major DPWH preparedness step. Earlier this month, more than 2,300 DPWH engineers completed nationwide training on seismic retrofitting of public buildings. The new school-building tenders show the program moving beyond capacity-building and into contractor procurement for physical strengthening works.
The PSRRRP itself was approved with US$300 million in World Bank financing. The project was designed to improve the seismic resilience of hundreds of selected public buildings in Metro Manila, particularly schools and health facilities, while also strengthening DPWH emergency preparedness and response capacity.
For families, the issue is not limited to whether students know how to evacuate. WVF has previously examined the hazards that can surround a child’s school and why preparedness must include the physical safety of the building itself. The broader risk is also why building vulnerability remains a central concern in a major Metro Manila earthquake.
Why the current bidding matters
The three packages represent a concrete implementation stage: DPWH is now seeking contractors to carry out seismic strengthening on another group of Metro Manila school buildings. The publicly available tender notices identify the number of buildings and the cities involved, but they do not identify the individual schools in the notices reviewed by WVF.
The procurement also fits into a wider resilience push. The Philippines recently joined the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, with DPWH representing the country, adding another institutional track focused on making public infrastructure more resilient to disasters.
WVF will update this report if DPWH, the World Bank or the detailed bidding documents publicly identify the specific schools included in these packages or materially change the procurement timeline.
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Recommended Further Reading
- More Than 2,300 DPWH Engineers Trained in Seismic Retrofitting of Public Buildings
- What Hazards Surround Your Child’s School?
- Philippines Joins Disaster-Resilient Infrastructure Coalition, With DPWH Representing the Country
- The Big One Is Not the Biggest Threat—Our Buildings Are
Sources
- DPWH / World Bank Procurement Notice — Contract Package 5
- DPWH / World Bank Procurement Notice — Contract Package 6
- DPWH / World Bank Procurement Notice — Contract Package 7
- World Bank — Philippines Seismic Risk Reduction and Resilience Project approval and project scope
- World Bank — PSRRRP project document
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