DBM releases P11.2 B for school infra projects

The government has released some P11.2 billion for various school infrastructure projects in preparation for the implementation of the K to 12 program, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said yesterday.

The DBM said the budget was released to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), which is tasked to build school buildings that would be identified by the Department of Education (DepEd).

“In 2014, we closed the classroom gap and have built over 86,000 classrooms since 2010,” DBM Secretary Florencio Abad said in a statement.

“This latest release is the next step toward ensuring that Filipino students have ample room to learn, given the implementation of the K to 12, and the growing population of students,” Abad said.

The DBM said the budget, which was sourced from DepEd’s basic education facilities fund (BEFF) for 2016, was released in four tranches.

It did not identify how many classrooms would be constructed.

Based on DepEd’s 2016 budget, the agency will receive over P82 billion for infrastructure projects under BEFF this year.

At least P73 billion of the budget will be used for the construction of new and replacement of existing school buildings. The remaining amount will be used for the rehabilitation of existing buildings and acquisition of equipment, furniture and other fixtures.

A part of the fund will be used to pay for the amortization or lease of publicprivate partnership projects, as well as payment of school buildings constructed by the National Housing Authority.

“DPWH and DepEd will work together to design plans for these infrastructure projects. We want to ensure that any public works resulting from this release must be environmentally friendly and built at an efficient cost,” Abad said.

The DBM said it has also released some P523 million for the provision of school furniture, including desks and other fixtures, for newly constructed school buildings.

A total of P300.4 million came from the 2015 budget, while the remaining P223.2 million was sourced from the current year’s budget, said the agency.