Senator Paolo “Bam” Aquino IV on Thursday, July 23 urged the Department of Education (DepEd) to work double time in the last half of 2026 to deliver the targeted 25,000 classrooms on time, saying that further delays in the construction of these buildings continue to burden Filipino students and teachers.

During the Senate Committee on Basic Education hearing on classroom construction, Aquino said that the P67-billion allocation under the 2026 national budget should be translated into quality learning spaces that address the needs of students and teachers across the country.

"The true measure of success is not the amount of funds allocated. The true measure is how many classrooms were built and how quickly our students were able to use them," Aquino said. 

“Let us meet the target. Let us double our efforts. If there are problems and bottlenecks that need to be removed, let us remove them. If there are processes that need to be expedited, let us expedite them. For the people's funds are allocated to address the people's needs," he added.

As chairperson of the basic education panel, Aquino helped push for the inclusion of the P67-billion allocation for classroom construction in the historic P1.34-trillion education budget to help address the country's 166,000-classroom backlog.

He reminded concerned agencies that the efficient use of the classroom construction budget would serve as a key measure in determining whether the government should increase future investments in education.

The lawmaker warned that agencies that fail to demonstrate it can utilize funds allocated for classrooms efficiently and expeditiously may face budget cuts for the coming year.

“If we fail to demonstrate that we can utilize the funds allocated for classrooms efficiently and expeditiously, we fear that the budget for the coming year might be reduced,” he said. 

“And we know—given the 10-year national education plan—that we need to secure funding of this magnitude, or even larger, just to address the 166,000-classroom gap we are facing,” he added.

In response, DepEd officials assured it is committed to deliver the needed classrooms as soon as possible.

“We assure this Committee that we remain steadfast in ensuring that we deliver the promised classrooms at the soonest possible time. We needed to undergo delicate and deliberate steps in ensuring that the solution to this problem is permanent," DepEd Undersecretary for Legal and Legislative Affairs Filemon Ray Javier told the committee in response.