MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has released P1.67 billion for the construction of 1,704 classrooms in elementary and secondary public schools, in line with the Aquino administration’s bid to provide enough classrooms for the country’s growing number of public school students.
Secretary of Budget and Management Florencio “Butch” Abad noted that the release made to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) includes funding for the reconstruction of classrooms damaged by super typhoon Yolanda.
“After closing the 66,800-classroom gap this year, we are again challenged to address the need for more public school classrooms across the country. Consider as well the fact that calamities from the previous year took a great toll on infrastructure and property, and public school campuses were not spared. This latest release will give the DPWH the funding they need to rebuild damaged classrooms and construct new ones nationwide,” Abad said.
“More important, these funds gives additional attention to repairing classrooms in Yolanda-stricken areas. We need to make sure that our students enjoy sufficient school facilities that make their campus environment more conducive to learning,” he added.
Of the total amount released, Eastern Visayas will get the biggest share of P558.7 million for the construction and reconstruction of 559 classrooms. Regions VI and VII have likewise been allotted P212.9 million and P287.3 million, respectively, for a combined target of 509 classrooms.
The breakdown of the number of classrooms and the amount released per region are as follows:
REGION CLASSROOMS AMOUNT
IV-B 111 107,657,470
VI 223 212,851,247
VII 286 287,305,145
VIII 559 558,720,949
CARAGA 88 85,575,361
ARMM 437 422,751,547
Total 1,704 1,674,861,719
The P1.67-billion release will be sourced from the Department of Education’s (DepEd) budget for Basic Educational Facilities. Under the FY 2014 General Appropriations Act (GAA), a total of P39 billion was appropriated for the delivery of this purpose.
“Our budget for the year fully supports the needs of our education sector, as advancing quality education in the country remains a top priority. The same can be said for our post-calamity rehabilitation efforts, where we continue to ‘build back better’ and fast-track recovery in all affected areas,” the budget chief said.
The Budget department recently released P7.35 billion for the construction of 7,136 classrooms nationwide; with a physical targets of 5,916 classrooms for elementary schools and 1,220 classrooms for secondary schools.
