Senator Loren Legarda, Co-Chairperson of the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II) and Chairperson of Senate Committee on Higher, Technical, and Vocational Education, called for a sharper, systems-based reform of the Department of Education (DepEd) that links classroom realities with national development goals, during the Commission’s sectoral review with DepEd officials.
“Education is the system that enables every other reform to work,” Legarda said. “It is the mind that guides every hand that builds. From health to livelihood, from industry to defense, every pillar of progress stands on the strength of an educated people.”
“It is the mind that guides every hand that builds.”
Drawing from EDCOM II’s analysis, the veteran legislator noted that the education system continues to bear structural inefficiencies: a backlog of about 165,000 classrooms, only 30 percent of existing school buildings in good condition, and 32,916 teaching and 22,124 principal positions still needed nationwide, with 1,338 posts for school heads remaining vacant. Each School Division Office (SDO) staff supports an average of 1,237 learners and 33 schools, highlighting the overstretched local bureaucracy.
The seasoned lawmaker commended DepEd’s ongoing responses to these challenges, including the creation of 20,000 new teacher items and 10,000 Administrative Officer II positions, and its One School, One Principal target to professionalize school leadership.
DepEd has also issued the first Medical Allowance Guidelines, raised the Teaching Support Subsidy for private school teachers from P18,000 to ₱24,000, and doubled the Teaching Supplies Allowance to ₱10,000 through the Kabalikat sa Pagtuturo Act, a measure that Legarda championed.
DepEd reported that it is building 328 Child Development Centers with local governments, developing Project Ligtas, a tool that maps school geohazards, and launching Project Talino for data-driven partner matching. It also rolled out Project SIGLA to monitor nutrition outcomes and scaled up early childhood and feeding programs for learners.
The lady senator also raised the full implementation of the National Environmental Awareness and Education Act of 2008, which she authored, and inquired into how culture and history are taught. DepEd affirmed that both environmental literacy and cultural identity are integrated across the curriculum.
Legarda emphasized sustained funding for the Alternative Learning System (ALS) and Indigenous Peoples Education (IPED) programs. For School Year 2023-2024, DepEd reported that only 46 percent of ALS learners completed the program.
“When education fails to reach the poor, the loss is not only in learning but in productivity, opportunity, and national growth.”
“When education fails to reach the poor, the loss is not only in learning but in productivity, opportunity, and national growth,” she stressed.
Legarda reaffirmed that EDCOM II’s review aims to align education governance with measurable human development outcomes.
“Our goal is to build an education system that expands capability, reduces inequality, and prepares every learner to participate fully in national life,” she concluded.
