DBM releases P9.41 B for construction of 6,098 classrooms

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) yesterday announced the release of P9.41 billion to the Department of Public Works and Highways for the construction of 6,098 classrooms in 956 high schools across the country.

“We’ve closed the classroom gap based on the 2010 backlog target and now we’re determined to build more classrooms due to the increasing number of enrollees each year,” Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said in a statement.

“We are also preparing for the proper implementation of the K to 12 program by next year,” he added.

The DBM said the budget would come from the Basic Educational Facilities Fund under the Department of Education’s (DepEd) 2015 budget.

“There have been delays in the construction of these classrooms, due to the education agency’s exhaustive process in assessing their targets. However, the DepEd had to identify and validate the safety of these sites first as part of the national government’s build back better strategy,” Abad said.

DepEd was earlier criticized for failing to immediately spend the budget allocated for classroom construction.

Education Secretary Armin Luistro had said the agency encountered problems during the bidding process, resulting in some delay.

Luistro gave assurance a catch-up plan was in place to immediately release the funds.

A breakdown released by the DBM showed Region IV-A would receive the highest allocation – P2.17 billion for 1,349 classrooms – followed by Metro Manila (P1.29 billion for 751 classrooms) and Region VI (P1.2 billion for 835 classrooms).

The budget department said there is another P82.6 million as buffer fund to ensure there would be appropriate budgetary support for additional foundation works if needed.

DepEd received the highest budget among government agencies this year with P377.7 billion. The DBM proposed P435.9 billion or a 15.4 percent increase in the DepEd budget next year.

“The building of these school facilities will help us improve the quality of education to better prepare our graduates for work or higher education,” said Abad.