Over 200 Mayors Nationwide Rally Behind Classroom-Building Acceleration Program Act
In a significant show of unity, more than 200 city and municipal mayors from across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao convened at the Makabagong San Juan National Government Center to express their full support for Senate Bill 1482, widely known as the Classroom-Building Acceleration Program Act. This gathering followed the bill's unanimous approval in the Philippine Senate, marking a pivotal moment in efforts to address the country's persistent classroom shortage.
Strategic Summit for Decentralized Education Infrastructure
The event, titled the "Mayor's Dialogue on Accelerating Classroom-Building," took place on January 28, 2026, shortly after the Senate passed the measure on its third and final reading with a resounding 22-0 vote. The dialogue evolved into what participants described as a strategic bayanihan summit, serving as a comprehensive roadmap for local government units to assume a more active role in tackling the classroom backlog.
Authored by Senator Bam Aquino, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, the CAP Act seeks to empower LGUs to directly plan, construct, and monitor school facilities—functions that were previously centralized under national agencies. Aquino emphasized that decentralizing classroom construction is critical to meeting the country's annual targets, stating that simultaneous building efforts are essential to fulfill the goal of 25,000 to 30,000 classrooms this year.
Addressing a Growing National Crisis
During the dialogue, alarming data was presented, revealing that the national classroom shortage stood at 166,000 units in late 2025. Without major reforms, this figure could escalate to 230,000 by 2028, underscoring the urgency of the CAP Act. San Juan City Mayor and League of Cities of the Philippines president Francis Zamora echoed Aquino's position, highlighting that local governments are better equipped to implement projects efficiently if allowed to work in parallel.
Zamora noted that with over 1,600 municipalities and 149 cities nationwide, simultaneous construction could dramatically accelerate classroom delivery, transforming the approach to education infrastructure.
Financial Backing and Economic Impact
The proposed 2026 national budget, the largest in history at P1.34 trillion, provides robust financial support for this reform, with P66 billion specifically allocated for classroom construction. Aquino assured local officials that special provisions in the 2026 General Appropriations Act already permit LGUs to begin building even before the CAP bill is fully signed, enabling immediate action.
Beyond addressing the education crisis, the CAP Act is designed as an economic stimulus. The P66-billion allocation is projected to generate more than 100,000 jobs, offering a significant boost to local employment while helping to close the classroom gap.
Key Features and Expected Benefits
- Direct Fund Downloading: Under the CAP Act, funds for classroom construction will be directly transferred to LGUs, allowing projects to proceed simultaneously across thousands of sites instead of waiting for a single national agency to manage bidding and implementation.
- Cost Reduction: This LGU-led model is expected to lower construction costs, bringing the average cost per classroom down to between P1.5 million and P1.8 million, compared to earlier estimates of P3.5 million per unit.
- Improved Monitoring: The measure aims to enhance oversight and ensure that schools are built in underserved "last mile" areas, where local officials have better familiarity than national agencies.
Commitments and Future Steps
The dialogue concluded with firm commitments from the Department of Education to provide technical guidance and oversight, while mayors pledged to prioritize land donations for annex schools to bring education closer to communities. Aquino stressed the urgency of collaboration, noting that the seriousness of the classroom shortage demands collective action to find lasting solutions.
He acknowledged that comprehensive reform may take time, possibly spanning two to three presidential terms, but emphasized that immediate steps can be taken to initiate progress. With the bill certified as urgent by Malacañang, bypassing usual waiting periods, the stage is set for accelerated implementation to transform the educational landscape in the Philippines.
