SENATE Deputy Majority Leader Rodante Marcoleta has pressed the Department of Education to ensure continuity in its school building program and shield it from political interference to address the country’s persistent classroom shortage.

During a Senate hearing, Marcoleta questioned DepEd Undersecretary Wilfredo Cabral on why the classroom gap worsened after 2018, despite earlier gains in 2016 and 2017.

He noted that the problem intensified after the responsibility for building classrooms under the Basic Educational Facilities Fund was transferred from DepEd to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

“Before DPWH took over, you were saying there was a light at the end of the tunnel,” Marcoleta recalled. “Pero you were asked, bakit hindi n’yo itinuloy? Even if it was a good policy?”

Cabral explained that he was not yet an implementer of the program at the time—a response Marcoleta rejected as unacceptable.

“That’s the problem. There is no continuity, no institutional memory in DepEd,” the senator said.

Citing South Korea as an example, Marcoleta noted that the country has followed a master plan for its public school system since 1901, continuing projects regardless of changes in leadership—even when past presidents were imprisoned.

“Wala dapat politika. That’s the difference between us and South Korea,” he remarked.

The hearing also discussed the proposed Classroom Building Acceleration Program Bill, which aims to cut costs and speed up classroom construction through public-private partnerships, collaboration with non-profit groups, and adoption of best practices from local government units that have significantly reduced their classroom backlog.

“Walang politika, dapat may continuity sa programa sa pagtatayo ng mga silid-aralan,” Marcoleta emphasized.