PASIG City Rep. Roman Romulo is calling for immediate and sustained classroom interventions to address persistent reading comprehension problems among Filipino pupils.

Romulo, chair of the House Committee on Basic Education, made the appeal following the release of the final report of the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II).

He said the country’s long-running reading crisis reflects systemic flaws in how education has been designed and implemented over decades.

The veteran lawmaker stressed that neither learners nor teachers are to blame, pointing instead to past policies that promoted students without ensuring mastery of basic skills.

“It is neither the fault of the child nor the teacher. It was the system that required us to keep promoting students,” Romulo said.

He called for decisive remediation through the Department of Education’s Aral Program and similar initiatives, which address learning gaps as soon as they are detected, rather than waiting for summer classes or remedial breaks.

Recent assessments have repeatedly shown low reading and numeracy levels among Filipino students.

Lawmakers acknowledge that the issue cannot be solved by finger-pointing but requires restructuring how learning support is delivered inside classrooms.

Now that the K–12 system is fully in place, Romulo said the focus should be on providing catch-up support while learners are still in school.

“We know there are learners who are not grade-level proficient. We should use the Aral Program and employ aggressive interventions to help children along the way,” he explained.

Romulo noted that past promotion practices allowed learning gaps to compound, making the problem harder to address. For current learners, he stressed the need for immediate action.

“If we see a Grade 4 pupil whose reading level is not at Grade 4, we must immediately provide catch-up support. Let us not wait for summer classes. Interventions must be aggressive and timely. That is what the Aral Program is for,” he said.

The renewed discussion comes as EDCOM II findings trace the reading crisis back decades, reinforcing the need for reforms that are sustained across administrations rather than treated as short-term fixes.

Romulo highlighted that concerns over reading comprehension date back a century. “As early as 1925, the first Monroe Survey already identified reading comprehension as a problem. In the 1990s, EDCOM noted the same issue. And now, here we are,” he said.

He also recalled how the early K–12 implementation overwhelmed learners and teachers due to the sheer number of subjects and competencies. Reforms since then have narrowed learning priorities in lower grades, with reading comprehension taking center stage alongside mathematics and the reintroduction of good manners and right conduct.

“Previously, a child entering Grade 3 already had nine subjects. We reduced that to five, emphasizing reading comprehension to ensure learners can read and understand what they read,” Romulo said.

He maintained that addressing the reading crisis requires sustained political will and system-level accountability to ensure no learner is left behind.