Teachers said that the Department of Public Works and Highways’s (DPWH) “abysmal performance” in constructing classrooms only show its focus on the corruption-ridden flood control projects and little else.
“Magnakaw, gusto? Magtayo ng classroom, ayaw?” the Alliance of Concerned Teachers- Philippines (ACT) said to revelations that DPWH has only completed 22 classrooms out of 1,700 targeted for 2025 as of this month.
ACT said that the target is in fact too few for the current shortage of 165,000 classrooms nationwide.
“Sadyang nakakagalit ito lalo sa gitna ng kalunos-lunos na kalagayan naming mga guro at mag-aaral sa mga eskwela,” ACT said.
“Libu-libong estudyante ang nagsisiksikan sa mainit at maingay na mga silid, yung iba hinati pa nga at walang pagpipilian kundi magklase sa covered courts at makeshift classrooms,” the group added.
DPWH secretary Vince Dizon revealed in a Senate budget hearing last Monday that his agency only had a 1.29 % accomplishment rate in classroom construction.
Dizon, a new appointee to the position after the flood-control scandal blew up, himself expressed surprise at the report.
“Is this true? This is very low. So, for 2025, out of 1,700 classrooms that needed to be built, only 22 have been completed,” he told Sen. Bam Aquino.
Dizon added that 822 are ongoing construction while 882 have yet to commence.
Criminal negligence
ACT said the situation is clear criminal negligence of the education sector and the youths’ right to quality education.
ACT noted that the extremely low completion rate reveals the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government’s true priorities, saying that while the DPWH poured billions into flood control projects, quality education infrastructure was completely abandoned.
The group also expressed skepticism over the proposed Classroom-Building Acceleration Program (CBAP) that seeks the involvement of local government units (LGUs) and the private sector in the construction of classrooms.
“While presented as a solution to the worsening backlog, CBAP effectively shifts the national government’s constitutional duty to provide free, quality education onto local governments and the private sector,” ACT national chairperson Ruby Bernardo said.
Instead of outsourcing its responsibility, the Marcos administration and the DepEd must fix and streamline the classroom construction process, she said.
ACT said officials must be held accountable for anomalies and corruption in school building projects while agencies mandated to deliver these services are competent, transparent, and credible, Bernardo underlined.
ACT demanded immediate and decisive action from the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administration to address the worsening classroom shortage and the broader education crisis, reiterating its call for a higher education budget equivalent to 6% of the GDP to resolve the massive shortages, propel learning recovery, and uplift the economic and working conditions of teachers and education workers.
Meanwhile, the DPWH said that no documents related to the ongoing investigation into the flood control anomalies were damaged in the fire that broke out in its Quezon City offices Wednesday afternoon.
It said it is its Bureau of Research and Standards (BRS) building that caught fire that conducts research, studies, pilot testing, and formulation of policies for government infrastructure projects. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
