‘Practically begging:’ District rep rues meager DepEd funds for new classrooms

January 30, 2024 | 1:07pm

MANILA, Philippines — Days after the Department of Education cited progress in solving classroom shortages, a House representative vented his fury at being given just enough funds in his poverty-stricken district to build 13 new classrooms out of a backlog of over 700.

Interjecting during a House hearing on the K to 12 program, a visibly frustrated Rep. Adrian Amatong (Zamboanga del Norte, 3rd District) called out DepEd for its “unfair” allocation of funds for new school infrastructure, stressing that there needs to be enough classrooms first before adjusting the curriculum.

“Usec. Densing, I came to you last year practically begging to provide funds for my district,” Amatong said, addressing Epimaco Densing, DepEd’s official in charge of school infrastructure.

“I begged you, with 55% of my constituents living below the poverty threshold, we need classrooms so students can study well and they can succeed and pull their families up. But you give us how many (school buildings)? Seven? How is that fair?” the Zamboanga Del Norte lawmaker said in a mix of English and Filipino.

Both Amatong and Rep. Jaime Fresnedi (Muntinlupa City) raised the i