Gatchalian urges speedy repair of monsoon-damaged classrooms

MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Win Gatchalian on Wednesday urged the Department of Education (DepEd) and local government units (LGUs) to expedite the repair and replacement of classrooms damaged by recent tropical cyclones and the enhanced southwest monsoon, or habagat.

“Tuwing bumabangon tayo mula sa mga kalamidad, kailangang agarang kumpunihin o palitan ang mga nasirang silid-aralan upang ‘wag malagay sa panganib ang mga mag-aaral dahil lamang sa mga pasilidad na hindi agad naaayos,” Gatchalian said in a press release.

(“Whenever we recover from disasters, damaged classrooms must be repaired or replaced immediately so that students are not put at risk simply because these facilities are not promptly fixed.”)

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His statement came as the DepEd reported thousands of damaged classrooms due to the combined effects of two cyclones that hit the country and the enhanced habagat.

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READ: Habagat rains disrupt classes for 8.4M learners across 8 regionsBased on DepEd’s August 14 report at 8 a.m., the adverse weather has affected 12,477 public schools in 73 divisions, involving 8,421,045 learners and 365,308 personnel, with  7,077 classrooms sustaining varying degrees of damage.

Gatchalian also warned that failure to address the damage could further worsen the country’s classroom shortage, noting that DepEd data showed that the classroom backlog stood at 147,000 as of July 2025.

According to the Senate President, the 2026 national budget allocated P67.9 billion for basic education facilities, including funds for the replacement of school buildings

The DepEd also recently said it would set aside P34.355 million for cleanup and clearing operations in 1,195 affected schools and P201.586 million for minor repairs in 4,114 classrooms./coa