According to the Philippine PPP Center, four information technology (IT) companies have shown interest to compete for the P1.59-billion (around US$34 million) public-private partnership (PPP) project that will upgrade the country’s civil registry services.

The companies that submitted pre-qualification documents were:

• Unisys Philippines,
• Filmetrics Corp.,
• Pointwest Consortium, and
• HTL Consortium.

The auction process will have two stages, meaning interested parties will first be pre-qualified in terms of legal, technical and financial capabilities, and those that pass will be invited to submit bids.

Bid submission will be held on April 18 and the award will take place before President Benigno S. C. Aquino III steps down from office on June 30.

The National Economic and Development Authority Board approved the CRS-ITP2 on July 15. 

The preferred bidder will have to finance, design, develop, operate, and maintain the CRS-ITP2, which is a successor project to CRS-ITP implemented in 2000.

The project will involve the computerization of the civil registry operations of the Philippine statistics authority (PSA) and is designed to collect, access, store, maintain and manage civil registry documents and the specimen signatures of all city and municipal registrars using imaging technology.

The project will also include production of vital statistics and makes the civil registry services available nationwide through the CRS outlets and other authorized partners.