Pagcor to fund construction of 125 schools, stay out of bidding

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) will provide funding for the construction of 125 school buildings across the country but will not take part in the bidding, its chairperson, Alejandro Tengco, said Monday.

During the House of Representatives committee on appropriations’ hearing for the agency’s 2027 budget, Tengco said Pagcor launched its nationwide school building program last March in partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd).

READ: DepEd completes partnerships with provinces to ease classroom shortage

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Pagcor committed an initial P1.37 billion for the construction of 125 school buildings, or around 1,500 classrooms, to address the classroom shortage that has been a long-term concern.

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“It will be the Department of Education that will be vetting and recommending the school building that will be constructed, and it will be the Pagcor, through the different LGUs [local government units], that will be funding the construction,” Tengco said.

He noted that construction of the classrooms will be completed by 2027. The program started this year, with Pagcor earmarking P3.5 billion to be released to LGUs.

READ: SONA 2026: Where does Marcos’ 40,000-classroom promise stand?

“Pagcor also does not have a hand in the bidding process. Pagcor will only be funding it. There are so many requirements between the DepEd and the LGU concerned,” he added.

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He also said Pagcor collects the requirements before releasing the first tranche of the budget to chosen LGUs, which will be in charge of the bidding process.

Citing the DepEd’s National School Building Inventory, the Second Congressional Commission on Education earlier said that the current classroom backlog across the country exceeds 166,000.

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The commission also said that 51,222 classrooms will be at least 50 years old by 2028, or by the end of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s term. /mcm