THE Philippine government is shifting the responsibility for building and repairing classrooms to local government units, or LGUs, to fast-track construction and address a nationwide shortage.
The current system, where the Department of Education (DepEd) passes the construction budget to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for implementation, has resulted in significant delays and a massive classroom backlog.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced a new scheme to directly download funds to capable LGUs, believing they can complete the projects faster and more efficiently.
Why change the system
The shift aims to overcome the slow pace of construction that has plagued the current system, which involves heavy bureaucracy and multiple national agencies.
The failure to rapidly build classrooms has led to a national backlog and forced many schools to implement class shifts or hybrid learning to accommodate students.
By empowering LGUs, the National Government hopes to accelerate construction, reduce the classroom shortage and ensure a quicker response for post-disaster repairs.
The problem: Massive classroom backlog
The country faces a critical lack of classrooms, a problem that has grown worse due to slow construction rates.
The DepEd7, in a report in June, estimates the region still needs between 3,000 and 5,000 new classrooms to meet its ideal student-to-classroom ratio. However, when the magnitude 6.9 earthquake in northern Cebu struck on Sept. 20, 2025, DepEd reported the destruction of about 500 classrooms, major damage to 700 and minor damage to over 2,000, affecting thousands of students and educators and causing around P4 billion in losses.
Dismal completion rate: During a Senate committee hearing, it was revealed that only 22 out of 1,700 classrooms targeted for completion in 2025 by the DPWH had been finished.
Growing shortage: While DepEd stated that around 22,092 classrooms were built between July 2022 and July 2025, reducing the backlog from about 165,443 to 146,708, a senator warned that if construction continues at the current slow pace, the shortage could balloon to 200,000 by 2028.
Causes of delay: DepEd attributed the slow construction pace to the DPWH’s heavy workload and changes in its leadership. However, the President pointed directly to the bureaucratic process of “getting clearances and permits” as the main cause of implementation delays.
The new plan: Empowering LGUs
The new scheme transfers project implementation from the national DPWH to local chief executives.
Direct funding: “From now on, lahat ng LGU na may kapasidad, na may kaya, ida-download namin ang pondo sa LGU na. Kayo na ang magpatayo ng inyong eskuwelahan (From now on, all LGUs with capacity and means, we will download the fund to the LGUs. You will build your own schools),” President Marcos said.
Boosting speed and efficiency: The President expressed confidence that local leaders, with their administrative experience, can implement projects faster and more affordably. He argued that LGUs have a powerful incentive to do good work since they will be held immediately accountable by their constituents.
“Hindi nyo pwedeng gawing substandard ‘yan, at pagka ginawa ninyo ‘yun, araw-araw ay minumura kayo ng mga constituents ninyo kung hindi tama ang trabaho ninyo (You cannot make it substandard, and if you do that, your constituents will curse you every day if your work is not right),” he added.
National Government support: The National Government assured assistance for LGUs that may not have the necessary equipment or capacity to implement the classroom projects on their own.
Implications for students, public
The success of this new scheme has significant consequences for education and public infrastructure across the Philippines.
Faster school repair: The new process is expected to accelerate the rehabilitation of classrooms damaged by natural disasters like earthquakes, ensuring a quicker return to normal classes for affected students.
Reduced overcrowding: If LGUs can dramatically accelerate construction, the classroom backlog will decrease, potentially ending the need for school shifts or hybrid learning arrangements that are currently necessary to fit students into limited spaces.
Focus on accountability: The President’s move directly challenges local executives to deliver tangible results, placing the responsibility — and the blame for failure — squarely on the LGUs’ shoulders rather than a distant national agency. This closer “coordination between the National Government and the LGUs” is intended to make projects less prone to delays and substandard quality. / PND /SunStar Davao with TPM