MANILA — In a major policy shift aimed at cutting through years of delays in school infrastructure projects, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered local government units (LGUs) to take the lead in procuring and constructing new classrooms, as the country grapples with a shortage of around 145,000 rooms as of December 2025.
The President announced the move Wednesday during the signing of a memorandum of agreement between the Department of Education (DepEd) and several provinces at Malacañang Palace, describing the current system as too slow to meet the urgent needs of Filipino learners.
“We are changing the system because the process that we have now is much too slow. With this initiative, we can take a big bite out of that gap,” Marcos said.
Under the new setup, DepEd will retain control over technical standards, classroom designs, and funding allocations, while LGUs will handle procurement and oversee the actual construction of classrooms within their jurisdictions.
The President underscored the urgency of the reform, noting that the backlog has left thousands of students without adequate learning spaces.
“Because we cannot wait another five or 10 years to ensure that every student has a comfortable classroom. So, we have initiated this partnership with the local government units. That is one of our strategies,” he said.
Marcos expressed confidence that placing implementation in the hands of local officials would curb ghost or substandard projects, as mayors and governors would be directly answerable to their constituents.
Under the agreement, LGUs will implement the construction, rehabilitation, and improvement of classrooms in accordance with national standards. DepEd will identify priority schools, issue standard classroom designs and technical specifications, and conduct plan reviews and validation of completed works to ensure compliance.
DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara described the partnership as a decisive shift from centralized implementation toward shared accountability.
“These signatures mark the end of working in silos. They mark the beginning of shared responsibility,” Angara said, adding that the initiative leverages local implementation capacity to speed up delivery while maintaining national standards.
Both DepEd and LGUs will share responsibilities for funding, monitoring, and long-term maintenance, backed by regular accomplishment reports and transparency mechanisms.
Marcos also reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to prioritize education for the remainder of his term, signaling that accelerating classroom construction will be central to addressing overcrowding and improving learning conditions nationwide./PN
