Kinahanglan hin support, kinahanglan hin sakto nga budget!
For our schools to be safer, they need more than promises — they need greater financial support, transparent governance, and genuine autonomy. The tragedies linked to unsafe, overcrowded classrooms are not isolated accidents but systemic failures rooted in corruption, weak procurement, and symbolic reforms. If education is the backbone of our nation, then reforming how we fund and manage schools is a matter of survival.
The Philippine Constitution (Article XIV, Section 5) mandates the State to “assign the highest budgetary priority to education.” Yet in practice, allocations fail to meet the urgent need for safe learning environments.
The Government Procurement Reform Act (RA 9184may have been changed to a better law perhaps but still the law is implemented by men. And it is was designed to ensure transparency and competition in public spending. However, corruption persists:
• Overpriced contracts and substandard construction plague classroom projects.
• Patronage politics dictates project allocation.
• False reporting of completed classrooms masks inefficiencies.
These failures explain why thousands of children study in unsafe, makeshift spaces. Corruption transforms budget allocations into hollow promises, undermining both safety and learning.
School-Based Management (SBM), institutionalized through DepEd Order No. 44 (2016), was meant to empower schools to manage resources locally. In reality, SBM is often symbolic: schools lack fiscal autonomy and remain dependent on centralized, bureaucratic processes. Without genuine control, principals and communities cannot address urgent needs like classroom repairs or security upgrades.
If we are to protect our children, we must treat education reform as a national emergency. Procurement must be transparent, SBM must be real, and budgets must prioritize both classrooms and security. Only then can we ensure that schools are sanctuaries of learning, not sites of tragedy.
