The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
By: Virginia Rodriguez
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has promised to prioritize education for the rest of his term and build 40,000 new classrooms by 2028 to address the shortage in public schools. He has directed Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon to speed up construction and complete unfinished school building projects across the country.
When Ferdinand Marcos Jr. vowed to prioritize education for the remainder of his term, he was not talking about abstract reforms. He was talking about classrooms — the most basic building block of learning that the country still painfully lacks.
The numbers are sobering. The Philippines has been grappling with a backlog of more than 165,000 classrooms. Even after thousands were completed from 2022 to 2025, the deficit only shrank from 165,443 to 146,193 — an 11.6 percent reduction. That is progress, yes, but it is also proof of how deep the problem runs.
The President’s commitment to build 40,000 classrooms before stepping down in 2028 is bold. It signals urgency. But bold declarations must confront uncomfortable realities. In October 2025, Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon admitted before the Senate that the Department of Public Works and Highways had completed only 22 out of its 1,700 classroom target for the year. That figure was not just disappointing — it was alarming.
To his credit, Dizon has since moved to reset the system. Acting on the President’s instructions, he ordered a nationwide jinventory of unfinished school buildings. The new approach emphasizes finishing delayed projects before launching new ones — a common-sense strategy that should have been standard practice from the beginning.
The shift in strategy became more visible on February 11, 2026, when a memorandum of agreement was signed between the Department of Education and local government units at Malacañang Palace. The agreement allows funds to be downloaded directly to LGUs, with the DPWH providing support and oversight. In theory, this decentralization could cut red tape and speed up construction.
Under the first phase of the Nationwide Classroom Construction Program, around ₱9.6 billion has been allocated to build 4,000 new classrooms. The 2026 target is set at 1,500 to 2,000 new rooms, with a special focus on completing unfinished structures. These are not small numbers. But against a backlog of over 140,000, they are still only a beginning.
One of the more promising aspects of this initiative is the involvement of governors and local leaders. Ed Gadiano, along with other provincial officials, personally attended the MOA signing. His participation signals that provinces like Occidental Mindoro are willing to take ownership of the problem rather than wait passively for Manila to deliver.
This collaboration matters. Local governments often know better where the shortages are most severe — which schools hold classes in shifts, which rely on makeshift structures, which communities are one typhoon away from losing their only learning space. If properly supervised, LGUs can build faster and more efficiently than centralized agencies burdened byj layers of bureaucracy.
Still, optimism must be tempered with accountability. The previous “deplorable” performance in classroom construction cannot simply be forgotten. The public deserves regular, transparent reporting: How many classrooms are completed? Where are they located? How much was spent? Without transparency, even the best-designed program risks repeating old failures.
Education reform is often framed around curriculum changes, digitalization, or teacher training — all important. But none of these can fully succeed if students are packed into overcrowded rooms or studying under leaking roofs. A nation that cannot provide enough classrooms is a nation that has not yet put its children first.
President Marcos is right to say that education must be prioritized. The classroom crisis is not a minor administrative issue; it is a national emergency disguised as routine backlog. If the administration can truly deliver 40,000 functional, safe classrooms by 2028, it will leave a legacy that goes beyond politics.
In the end, the success of this promise will not be measured in speeches at Malacañang. It will be measured in quieter moments: a child sitting at a proper desk, a teacher no longer juggling double shifts, a province finally free from makeshift learning spaces. If those moments multiply across the country, then the vow to prioritize education will have meaning — not just as policy, but as progress.