THE Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) urged the Department of Education (DepEd) to prioritize classroom construction in the country’s most severely congested schools, warning that the classroom crisis is no longer simply a matter of building more classrooms but of keeping pace with aging infrastructure, disasters, rapid population growth, and longstanding governance bottlenecks.
Presenting its findings before the Senate Committee on Basic Education, EDCOM 2 reported that the country currently faces a backlog of over 166,000 classrooms, based on DepEd’s National School Building Inventory. However, the Commission warned that this deficit is expected to grow even larger over the next few years.
By 2028, an estimated 51,222 classrooms will have reached more than 50 years of age and are expected to require condemnation or replacement. Research by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) likewise found that 70% of public school buildings already require major repair, retrofitting, or condemnation, with some school buildings becoming structurally unsafe after barely a decade due to construction defects or substandard materials.
“Napakalaking hakbang ang pinakamataas na budget para sa edukasyon. Pero ang tunay na tanong ngayon ay: kaya ba natin itong maipatupad nang mabilis at maayos para maramdaman agad ng ating mga estudyante?” said EDCOM 2 Co-Chairperson Sen. Bam Aquino
Disasters widening the classroom gap
Beyond the existing backlog, EDCOM 2 emphasized that successive natural disasters have significantly widened the country’s classroom deficit.
The October 2025 Cebu earthquake damaged nearly 10,000 classrooms, with almost 90 percent of the damage concentrated in the Schools Division Offices of Cebu Province, Bogo City, and Cebu City. Barely eight months later, the magnitude 7.8 Sarangani earthquake struck on the opening day of School Year 2026–2027, damaging another 12,493 classrooms across five regions and 39 school divisions.
The disaster affected 1,676 schools, disrupted learning for 266,001 learners, and affected 11,557 teaching and non-teaching personnel. Of the damaged classrooms, 2,631 were totally destroyed, 2,945 sustained major damage, and 6,917 sustained minor damage, with estimated repair and replacement costs exceeding Php 13 billion.
In less than one year alone, recent earthquakes have damaged more than 22,500 classrooms, further widening an already severe national classroom shortage.
Planning failures continue to aggravate classroom congestion
EDCOM 2 likewise emphasized that the classroom shortage is worsened by fragmented planning and unresolved governance issues.
Based on data submitted by the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD), there are currently 58 National Housing Authority (NHA) housing projects nationwide without planned school facilities, representing at least 167,120 completed housing units. These projects are located across Bulacan (18), Rizal (14), Cavite (10), Laguna (10), Pampanga (3), and Metro Manila (3). EDCOM explained that the 2008 Implementing Rules and Regulations of Batas Pambansa Blg. 220 only require educational facilities for housing developments with 1,500 dwelling units or more, while remaining silent on cumulative housing developments built by the same developer.
EDCOM cited Naic, Cavite as a clear example of the consequences of uncoordinated housing development. Between the end of School Year 2025–2026 in March and the opening of classes in June, enrollment across the municipality increased by 5,405 learners in just three months, equivalent to the need for at least 135 additional classrooms based on DepEd’s 1:40 classroom ratio. At Muzon Elementary School, enrollment surged from 605 to 1,519 learners pushing the ratio to 1:217. In Timalan Hillsview Integrated School, enrolment grew from 6,500 to 7,459 learners, despite having only 32 classrooms, resulting in a 1:233 ratio.
“EDCOM has been urging DHSUD and DepEd since 2024 to work together and urgently address the challenges faced by hundreds of thousands of students, who since June, have been in schools without enough classrooms,” said Yee. “Areas with the highest congestion are also where bullying is most prevalent, and violence is most likely, making this not only a learning issue, but a safety issue.”
In response, the National Housing Authority (NHA) clarified that it has already identified priority housing sites requiring schools and has been awaiting the release of DepEd funding to begin construction.
“Last 2025 and and just this March 2026, nagbigay na kami ng listahan sa DepEd na mga sites namin na kailangan pong mapondohan ng housing. Sabi po ng DepEd na meron pang Php 18.5 billion na wala pang allocation. The NHA only needs Php 2.8 billion to complete the backlog of classrooms in Region 3 and in Region 4 which are the priority regions of DepEd,” said NHA Region 4 Manager Roderick Ibanez.
Echoing the need to accelerate implementation, Senate President and former EDCOM 2 Co-Chairperson Senator Sherwin Gatchalian emphasized that the 2026 budget intentionally included a special provision allowing local government units to participate in classroom construction to speed up delivery.
“Noong binuo namin ang budget, sinadya naming isama, lalo na ni Sen. Bam, ang special provision para sa mga LGU dahil malinaw ang layunin: sabay-sabay ang pagpapatayo ng mga silid-aralan, sa halip na naghihintayan ang mga ahensya. From this concept, mas mabilis sana nating naaaksyunan yung classroom backlogs,” Gatchalian said.
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