Iloilo to fast-track classroom building under DepEd deal

By Mariela Angella Oladive

Iloilo is set to accelerate the construction and repair of public school classrooms after Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. joined President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in signing a nationwide agreement between the Department of Education and local government units on Feb. 11.

The memorandum of agreement, signed at Malacañang Palace under the Nationwide Classroom Building Program, was inked by 82 provincial governors across the country.

The agreement outlines the shared responsibilities of DepEd and provincial governments in funding, constructing and maintaining school facilities to address the country’s classroom shortage.

DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara, senators, other government officials, teachers and students attended the event.

The agreement aims to address the country’s 145,000-classroom backlog by expanding the role of local governments in procurement and construction, while DepEd sets technical standards and provides funding support.

Under the first tranche of the program, about 4,000 classrooms are targeted for construction, backed by an initial PHP 9.6 billion allocation.

Of the total, PHP 4.1 billion will fund about 1,200 classrooms to be built by provincial governments.

More than PHP 5 billion will cover 2,800 prefabricated classrooms to be delivered by DepEd.

Marcos said the partnership is expected to cut implementation delays and speed up project completion.

“For students, it means classrooms will be completed sooner. For our teachers, it translates to a safer, more conducive environment that they can teach in. And for parents, this gives them peace of mind, knowing that their children are learning in better facilities,” the president said.

The initiative is backed by PHP 85.39 billion allocated for basic education facilities under the 2026 General Appropriations Act.

In Iloilo, the partnership bolsters the province’s education reform efforts, including the Bulig Eskwela sang Probinsya program, which prioritizes typhoon-resilient classrooms and the replacement of makeshift learning spaces.

DepEd data presented during the 2025 Iloilo Provincial Education Summit showed a shortage of 1,655 classrooms in the province, with 7,279 more requiring major repairs.

To address the gap, Defensor earlier earmarked PHP 600 million from the Special Education Fund for classroom construction and rehabilitation, on top of the PHP 355 million spent from 2022–2025.

With the DepEd-LGU agreement in place, Iloilo can leverage national and local funding streams to speed up the delivery of safe, adequate public school classrooms across the province.