As the classroom shortage continues to burden learners across the country, the Department of Education (DepEd) on Friday, Oct. 24, appealed to Congress to grant it “flexibility” in choosing partners to build classrooms beyond the controversy-plagued Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Only 22 of the 1,700 classrooms targeted for construction this year have been completed, the DPWH bared on Monday, Oct. 20, during the Senate Committee on Finance’s hearing on its proposed ₱625.78-billion 2026 budget.

DEPED said its hands are tied since the DPWH is, by law, the only body authorized to build classrooms for the agency.

“Sa totoo lang, tanging DPWH lang ang maaaring makapag-construct ng mga classroom para sa DepEd, limitado po tayo diyan (To be honest, only the DPWH is allowed to construct classrooms for DepEd; we are limited by that),” Aurelio Paulo Bartolome, DepEd’s assistant secretary for infrastructure, said during a radio interview.

 “Kaya naman isinusulong ng Department of Education, umaapela rin sa ating Kongreso, na mabigyan sa ang DepEd ng flexibility na maka-partner ang ibang mga ahensya na mayroon namang kakayahan na mabilis, maayos, dekalidad, at malinis (That’s why the Department of Education is pushing for, and also appealing to Congress, to grant DepEd the flexibility to partner with other agencies that have the capability to build quickly, efficiently, with quality, and integrity),” he went on.

Bartolome said the education department is eyeing to partner with local government units (LGUs), non-government organizations (NGOs), civil society groups, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Engineering Corps to help build classrooms.

“Actually, iyong flexibility na ‘yan, hopefully, we can work with the local government units, we can work with the NGOs, civil society, even the Armed Forces Engineering Corps (Actually, with that flexibility, hopefully we can work with local government units, NGOs, civil society, and even the Armed Forces Engineering Corps),” he said.

According to DepEd, about 143,000 classrooms are needed nationwide to bridge the current shortage.

“Actually, kung big picture po talaga, ang talagang shortage ay 143,000 classrooms ang kailangan natin itayo sa buong bansa para ma-address ang ating classroom shortage (Actually, looking at the big picture, we really need to build 143,000 classrooms across the country to address our classroom shortage),” Bartolome said.

Amid the issue of ghost projects and substandard infrastructure hounding the government, the assistant secretary said DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara has ordered a structural audit of school buildings to ensure the safety of learners and teachers.

“Alam niyo po, ininstruct kami agad ni Secretary Sonny [Angara] na gumawa ng structural audit sa lahat ng paaralan, lalo na sa area ng Region III (You know, Secretary Sonny [Angara] immediately instructed us to conduct a structural audit of all schools, especially in the areas of Region III),” said Bartolome.

“And that’s also coupled by all the calamities na naranasan natin in the past two weeks—iyong typhoon, iyong earthquake kaya kinakailangan natin talagang matingnan, ma-evaluate, at ma-asses ang structural integrity ng lahat ng ating classroom para ito ay ligtas sa ating mga mag-aaral (And that’s also coupled with all the calamities we’ve experienced in the past two weeks—the typhoon, the earthquake—so we really need to inspect, evaluate, and assess the structural integrity of all our classrooms to ensure they are safe for our students).”

Earlier, former DPWH Bulacan Assistant District Engineer Brice Hernandez told senators that from at least 2019 to 2025, all projects under his office — including roads, flood control structures, school buildings, and hospitals — failed to meet design specifications because funds were diverted to kickbacks.