Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sonny Angara decried how constructing flood control projects, later found to be riddled with anomalies, was prioritized while building of classrooms took a backseat.

"Mukhang nawili sila sa flood control sa totoo lang, e (It seems they got too fixated on flood control projects, to be honest)," Angara said in an interview on the sidelines of the awarding of Metrobank Foundation Outstanding Filipinos on Tuesday, Oct. 21.

"Matamaan na kung sino ang matamaan pero parang hindi na naging priority yung pagtayo ng classrooms (Let the chips fall where they may, but it looks like building classrooms stopped being a priority)," Angara expressed.

Only 22 classrooms have been built by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) out of the 1,700 targeted for completion this year.

This, Angara said, was regrettable, considering the urgent need for classrooms around the country pegged at over 150,000.

"Nakakapanghinayang talaga dahil alam natin na 'yan ang kailangan ng bayan. Kailangan natin para umunlad, yung mga kabataan kailangan nasa tamang environment ho sila (It’s really regrettable because we know that’s what the country needs. For us to progress, our youth must be in the right environment)," Angara said.

According to Angara, they plan to meet the 40,000 target of classrooms built by the end of President Marcos' term.

He said they are looking into several ways to address the classroom backlogs nationwide.

The DepEd secretary cited that the system in building classrooms must be changed, noting that the local government units (LGUs) should also be allowed to undertake the implementation of school building projects.

Angara added they are also proposing to build classrooms under Public-Private Partneship (PPP), citing that during the time of former DepEd chief Armin Luistro, the agency was able to establish 14,000 classrooms under PPP.