SENATE  Finance Committee Chairman Sherwin Gatchalian on Sunday announced that the Department of Public Works and Highways will no longer have exclusive authority over classroom construction, following a Department of Education  report revealing that 1,000 DPWH-built classrooms are unusable.

“I am dismayed at the Department of Education’s report, which found that 1,000 classrooms built by the Department of Public Works and Highways are unusable,” Gatchalian said.

“Nakakagalit na matuklasan ito sa gitna ng matinding kakulangan sa classroom at mga ulat ng malawakang korapsyon sa mga infrastructure projects ng pamahalaan. These findings affirm the direction we plan to take: the DPWH will no longer have the sole authority to build classrooms,” he added.

Gatchalian, who also chairs the Senate Committee on Basic Education, stressed that the discovery comes amid a nationwide classroom shortage and widespread reports of corruption in infrastructure projects.

“Moving forward, we will ensure that DepEd will be able to tap different modalities to promote efficient spending and guarantee classrooms that truly serve our learners,” he said, vowing reforms to prevent wasteful spending and substandard construction.

The senator said the move aims to fast-track the delivery of quality classrooms and allow DepEd to explore partnerships or alternative construction methods to address the country’s growing classroom backlog.