Banner headline of the Philippine Daily Inquirer for October 23, 2025: "Classroom construction no longer DPWH domain."
According to the article, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. has ordered that funds for the construction of schoolbuildings be channeled directly to local government units (LGUs), instead of leaving it to the Department of Public Works (DPWH).
The reason, of course, is obvious: the DPWH's reputation has been left in almost complete tatters due to the flood-control projects fiasco.
Not to mention the recent revelations that the agency has completed only 22 – pu****a, ONLY 22! – of the targeted 1,700 classrooms as of October this year.
I hate to burst your bubble, Mr. President, but some LGUs here in Laguna province have been doing that for a long time.
I remember, during the Araw ng Biñan festivities last February, among the various infrastructure projects inaugurated by the LGU of Biñan City include classrooms for its public schools – from elementary all the way to college.
One issue hurled by critics at the time had been, why is the LGU taking over the construction of classrooms when it’s clearly the mandate of the national government, specifically the DPWH?
Well, knowing the shocking (not!) revelations of unfettered, uncontrolled corruption inside the DPWH that has resulted in substandard or, worse, ghost projects, the answer to that question should be: Why not?
If LGUs have the money to spare, not to mention the fact that they know best which schools or which barangays needed classrooms the most, I daresay let’s let them do the job themselves.
If I also recall right, some locally-elected officials have also vented their frustrations at what had appeared to be the slow pace of the DPWH in terms of building classrooms.
Gaya ng sinabi ko kanina – kung may pera naman, bakit pa natin iaasa sa DPWH ang pagtatayo ng mga imprastraktura na alam nating makatutulong nang malaki sa ating mga kababayan?
Of course, and of course, there will always be issues of corruption in local government. Sasabihin ng iba, “Huh, baka si Mayor naman ang mga kickback sa mga contractor.”
Which, unfortunately, goes to show the badly eroded trust of the public to governance in general.
And this, I believe, is where LGUs should step up and prove to their constituents that the government still meant business in its mandate to provide for the ordinary Filipinos.
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