DPWH builds: DepEd orders wide audit after finding 1,000 unusable classrooms
MANILA, Philippines — More than 1,000 classrooms built by the Department of Public Works and Highways for the Department of Education remain unfinished or unusable despite being turned over and potentially paid for in full, Education Secretary Sonny Angara revealed Friday, September 19.
“The report to me was that more than 1,000 classrooms were left incomplete. I don’t know the reasons. It may be due to a lack of funds, but the fact is the classrooms cannot be used,” Angara said in mixed English and Filipino in a radio interview.
DepEd has since ordered a nationwide audit of all school infrastructure projects — a move that checks its own backyard amid mounting allegations of corruption in the DPWH's flood control projects in recent years.
While lamenting the unfinished classrooms, Angara said these projects are not all considered "ghost" projects, as some were partially built but ended up being turned over to schools unfinished.
“They are not totally ghost projects. But they were turned over without being completed, so some classrooms cannot be used,” the DepEd secretary said.
"Matagal na 'to (This has been going on for some time)," Angara said.
Nationwide order
The DepEd issued a memorandum on September 12, directing its regional and division engineers to identify "irregularities" in school building projects, including prolonged stoppages, incomplete deliveries, and structural defects.
Signed by DepEd Assistant Secretary Aurelio Paulo Bartolome, the memorandum also instructs officials to reconcile records with the DPWH and submit validated reports to the department's education facilities division within 15 days.
“The consolidated reports shall be used by the Central Office to pursue corrective action, demand accountability, and ensure learners receive safe and functional classrooms,” the order read, noting that submissions would be “strictly monitored.”
Paid but not usable
Angara said DepEd is now examining how many of the over 1,000 unfinished classrooms have already been paid for in full.
The DepEd chief is also not ruling out the possibility that some of the projects remain unfinished due to a lack of funds.
“That is what we need to look at — whether they were really paid for,” Angara said. “The situations vary. In some divisions, I saw classrooms that had been turned over but were not painted or had no electricity.”
He added that the immediate priority is to complete existing structures. “What is important is to finish the construction so the children can use the classrooms,” he said.
DPWH handles contractors
Although DepEd is the agency accountable for building and repairing new school infrastructure, the actual bidding and construction are handled by DPWH and its contractors.
The funds are only parked under DepEd's budget.
Angara has said such arrangement has restricted the department's options for building new classrooms amid a growing school population. It has also slowed the pace of school building projects because DPWH has to juggle multiple infrastructure priorities, the DepEd secretary added.
“Because DPWH is handling so many projects, building classrooms has not become a priority,” he said.
Angara said DepEd will propose changes in the 2026 national budget to allow the department to tap local governments for classroom construction.
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“Many local government units — cities and provinces — have the capacity and can provide counterpart funds. If we add our funds to theirs, we can have a counterparting system,” he explained.
The DepEd audit comes as other agencies also examine their infrastructure programs. Revelations of alleged corruption in DPWH’s flood control projects have already led the Department of Agriculture to review its farm-to-market roads for possible ghost projects.
A Philstar.com review of the DPWH's proposed and approved budgets from 2010 to 2025 shows that congressional amendments to the DPWH's allocations have steadily climbed over the years, but the increases only hit record highs under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. — with reports by Jean Mangaluz
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