Bam calls for speedy repair of typhoon-damaged classrooms

MANILA, Philippines — The government has been urged to fast-track the repair of classrooms and other school facilities that were damaged during the onslaught of Super Typhoon Uwan.

Sen. Bam Aquino made the call during a visit to the Binulasan Integrated School in Infanta, Quezon province yesterday, where he inspected makeshift learning spaces.

Aquino addressed educators, parents and local officials who attended the 1st Infanta Education Summit and Teachers’ Appreciation Day at the Northern Quezon Auditorium.

Citing data from school leaders, Aquino noted that Quezon province lacks 3,400 classrooms, and the municipality of Infanta has over 1,000 damaged classrooms.

Aquino lamented that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) had built only 22 classrooms nationwide as of October.

Aquino said the figure is far from the estimated nationwide backlog of 165,000 classrooms.

To address the crisis, Aquino is sponsoring Senate Bill 1482 or the Classroom Building Acceleration Program Act, which seeks to allow local officials to directly participate in the construction of classrooms using funds from the national budget.

The proposal intends to empower local government officials and school administrators to build facilities faster and at more reasonable cost.