At a recent hearing of the Senate finance committee on the Department of Public Works and Highways budget, Secretary Vince Dizon revealed that out of 1,700 classrooms targeted for completion by the agency, only 22 classrooms have been built this year.
Dizon said that 882 classroom projects are ongoing, while 882 more have “not yet even started,” translating to a “very deplorable” performance rate of 15.43 percent.
In reaction, Senator Bam Aquino said “It’s October, secretary. Even just saying it, sumasakit po ‘yung puso ko na (my heart aches that) only 22 classrooms were built. If we continue at this rate, our 146,000 classroom backlog will balloon to 200,000 by 2028.”
Aquino expressed frustration that despite previous priority in infrastructure spending, education facilities have remained neglected. He cited the need to shift classroom building responsibilities from the DPWH to local governments.
His proposed Classroom Acceleration Bill intends to give the funds for classrooms directly to LGUs for them to build the facilities.
Education Secretary Sonny Angara also said that the DPHW has been too engrossed with flood control projects and did not prioritize the construction of classrooms. He lamented the slow pace of construction, saying classrooms are urgently needed to provide students with an environment conducive to learning.
He said reforms are being undertaken by the DepEd to speed up the process, such as changes to the system adopted in 2018 that gave the DPWH sole authority to implement all DepEd funded school building projects, and exploring partnerships similar to those implemented under former education secretary Bro. Armin Luistro, which resulted in the construction of 14,000 classrooms.
Other lawmakers have also voiced frustration over the poor performance of the DPWH in terms of building classrooms.
Now that the DPWH is under the microscope, these discoveries that can be traced to either gross inefficiency or unfettered greed give Filipinos a clearer picture of why our country has been left so far behind.
Will those responsible be held accountable? Until we see people actually going to jail and ill-gotten wealth recovered, we can only hope that the current efforts do bear fruit. And if any reforms are forthcoming, we can only hope that they are sustainable and institutionalized, with the necessary checks and balances added to ensure such forms of waste and theft are totally eliminated.*
