At San Miguel Elementary School in Cordova, Cebu, some 380 students currently attend classes in 10 leaking tent classrooms that pose electrical safety risks and provide poor protection against extreme weather conditions.
Mayor Cesar “Didoy” Suan stated that students may remain in these temporary tents for another one to two years, as funding for permanent school infrastructure is currently stalled by budget limitations.
To secure a permanent solution, the municipal government has requested funding from Cebu 6th District Rep. Daphne Lagon for a four-story building, which is included in the proposed 2027 congressional budget.
FROM extreme dry-season heat to classroom leaks, hundreds of young students in Cordova, Cebu are facing a dangerous and repeating cycle just to get an education.
Rainwater has once again begun leaking into the makeshift tent classrooms of San Miguel Elementary School in Barangay San Miguel, Cordova. While local officials are searching for both quick fixes and long-term solutions, some 380 students have no choice but to attend classes under these temporary shelters while they wait for permanent buildings.
The situation turns dangerous whenever heavy rains hit the campus. School principal Jene Babe Pitac explained that the tent classrooms become completely vulnerable during downpours. A recent storm on Monday, June 29, 2026, escalated safety fears when rainwater breached the tents and pooled right next to active electrical outlets and running fans.
“Rainwater gets into the classroom whenever it rains, that would somehow disrupt the classes and compromise the safety of both teachers and students,” Pitac said.
The disruptions happen so fast that teachers must act as emergency responders. Grade 6 adviser Ritchelle Pacaldo, who also serves as the school’s clinic designate, said teachers are forced to rush to the main electrical breaker to completely cut off power the moment the rain starts.
“The students who are seated along the sides of the classroom have to move to the center because they get wet," Pacaldo explained. "So, our classes have to stop and are often interrupted.”
The tents offer absolutely no comfort when the weather changes, either. Pacaldo noted that during the dry season, extreme heat trapping inside the plastic enclosures has caused several students to suffer from elevated body temperatures and nosebleeds.
“I hope the building will be completed soon because this is not for the teachers' benefit but for the welfare of the students,” Pacaldo added.
Even the younger Grade 1 students who are placed in permanent structures are not entirely safe. Grade 1 teacher Josephine Maapaz reported that rainwater still leaks through her ceiling despite recent waterproofing efforts by local officials. Teachers now resort to covering desks, textbooks, and important lesson materials with clear plastic sheets to keep them dry.
Mayor Cesar “Didoy” Suan recently inspected the campus alongside the municipal engineering team and acknowledged the worsening situation. He explained that rainwater is seeping through the Grade 1 ceilings because it passes through an exposed steel framework that was originally meant for a second-floor expansion.
Suan admitted that teachers and students might be stuck using the tent classrooms for another one to two years.
“We see that the student population in San Miguel is growing, so we are rushing to find ways to help,” Suan said, noting he is doing everything he can within his current limitations.
To find a permanent solution, the Mayor has asked Cebu 6th District Rep. Daphne Lagon to fund a new four-story school building, which has been submitted for the proposed 2027 congressional budget. The municipal government also purchased a 400-square-meter private lot in 2025 for future expansions.
Immediate relief for the children is currently stalled by government bureaucracy. Principal Pitac revealed that no budget has been allocated for quick roof repairs as of the second quarter of 2026 because the school must rely on scarce Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) funds. Right now, those funds are being used to hire a security guard since the campus does not have a perimeter fence.
To reduce the immediate risk of electrical shocks, the school plans to rewire the tents with individual circuit breakers so teachers can cut off power to single tents rather than the whole school.
“We are hoping and asking DepEd to expedite this because this is a serious concern, and right now, we can only provide band-aid solutions,” Mayor Suan stated.
The financial bottleneck stems from a lack of local funds. Department of Education (DepEd) Public Schools District Supervisor Danilo Manguilimotan explained that ₱10.3 million from the 2024 Special Education Fund (SEF) was used to build the existing ground-level classrooms. However, building upward stopped completely when the local school board's budget dried up.
DepEd Cebu Province Schools Division Superintendent Senen Priscillo Paulin, in a message to SunStar Cebu, said that under the DepEd school building program, the Physical Facilities engineer has endorsed San Miguel Elementary School to the Central Office as one of the priority projects of the Cebu Province Division.
This crisis is a direct result of the school's rapid growth. Established in 2021, San Miguel Elementary School quickly swelled to 380 students and currently uses 10 tent classrooms to accommodate Grades 2 through 6.
Master Teacher II Glynn Sumagan recalled that among Cordova's 13 barangays, San Miguel previously had no school, forcing children to to travel to schools in other barangays, including Cordova Central School and those in Pilipog, Bangbang and Cogon.
The tents were first set up in May 2021 so local children could safely study closer to home, and they were fully occupied by 2023 when face-to-face classes returned after the pandemic.
Five years after the school first opened its gates, these temporary shelters are still the only shields the students have against the elements. The community now waits on the national government to step in before a student gets seriously hurt.