Camarines Sur Governor LRay Villafuerte has given his full backing to a Department of Education (DepEd) proposal for local government units (LGUs) to take the lead in the construction of school buildings in their respective localities, saying that LGUs are in a good position to speed up such infrastructure work to close the ever yawning gap in classrooms across the country.
As a former congressman, Villafuerte gave his support to this proposal by DepEd Secretary Juan Edgardo Angara as he sought the prompt congressional approval of a pending bill doubling the LGUs’ collection of their School Education Funds (SEFs) to give local governments more funds to build classrooms and undertake other education-related projects in their respective areas of jurisdiction.
“I give my full support to this proposal by Secretary Sonny (Angara) for LGUs to assume a more active role in the construction of school buildings in their communities, given that local governments are in a good position to take on this task in their respective localities in order to better help DepEd and the national government close the ever yawning gap in classrooms all over the country,” Villafuerte said.
In a recent meeting with the Mayors for Good Governance (M4GG) coalition, Angara called on LGUs to be more active in constructing school buildings in their localities.
“And for LGUs to do a much better job of building classrooms for the DepEd, I am calling on our lawmakers in both houses to consider passing, when the Congress reopens next year after the legislative break, the bill doubling from 1% to 2% the lawful share of the SEF from the real property tax collections of local governments,” added Villafuerte, who is president of the National Unity Party (NUP) and senior vice chairman (for South Luzon) of the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP).
He was referring to the SEF, which under Republic Act (RA) No. 7160, or the Local Government Code (LGC) of 1991, LGUs in Metro Manila are entitled to collect equivalent to 1% of their real property tax collections.
Camarines Sur Reps. and former governors Migz Villafuerte and Luigi Villafuerte have introduced House Bill (HB) No. 3841 in a bid to enlarge the SEF by augmenting such LGU funds sourced from their real property tax earnings and expanding its scope to cover all local governments in the entire country.
In HB 3841, the Villafuertes, along with fellow authors Camarines Sur Rep. Tsuyoshi Anthony Horibata and Bicol Saro Rep. Terry Ridon, seek to double to 2% the share of the SEF that shall be collected by LGUs on top of or in addition to the basic value of the real property taxes they collect, and to expand its scope by having this Fund not only in the National Capital Region (NCR) but to encompass the entire country.
Under the 1991 LGC, the SEF is applicable to NCR LGUs only, and that this education fund is sourced from an additional 1% tax on top of the basic value of the real property tax take of these local governments in Metro Manila.
In a recent meeting with the Mayors for Good Governance (M4GG) coalition, Angara called on LGUs to be more active in constructing school buildings in their localities.
Angara told the mayors in the M4GG dialogue that under its 2026 School program, the DepEd aims to build some 24,500 classrooms nationwide next.
He expressed the hope that LGUs would play a central role in this school program as co-implementers, particularly in facilitating land use, fast-tracking permits, and monitoring project execution, and especially in areas where local governments can move faster on procurement and project supervision.
Luigi Villafuerte said, meanwhile, that “the current 1% rate is no longer sufficient to meet the growing demands of a rapidly expanding student population and inflationary pressures on construction and procurement costs.”
Angara said that under its multi-track approach, capable LGUs will be tapped to directly build classrooms using national funds, alongside school buildings to be built by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the private sector though public-private partnerships (PPPs) and adopt-a-school projects, and other government partners.
He likewise bared reforms in SEF use, following updated guidelines issued recently by the DepEd and other concerned agencies.
Angara said that under the revised rules, SEF may now be tapped to complement national government spending by supporting such projects as early childhood education, school feeding, purchase of digital devices for classrooms, and literacy and remediation initiatives, subject to the decisions of the concerned local school boards.
Under Section 235 of RA 7160, the SEF is sourced from an additional 1% levy on real property tax collected by provinces, cities, and municipalities, thus making LGUs as DepEd partners in the delivery of basic education services.
Migz Villafuerte said that, “Our educational system continues to face serious challenges, foremost of which are the perennial shortage of classrooms, lack of instructional materials, and inadequate funding for school facilities and teacher support.”
“While this SEF provision has helped LGUs support education in their respective areas of jurisdictions, the coverage is limited only to Metro Manila when all LGUs deserve to be part of the fund to help education effectively and efficiently within their respective jurisdictions,” Migz said.
Luigi Villafuerte said, meanwhile, that “the current 1% rate is no longer sufficient to meet the growing demands of a rapidly expanding student population and inflationary pressures on construction and procurement costs.”
Also, the increase from 1% to 2% of the SEF’s share from real property tax collections “will allow LGUs to increase their support for public education by addressing such chronic woes as classroom and textbook shortages, and investing in 21st-century learning facilities for our children,” he said.
This proposed amendatory law shall change Section 235 of RA 7160 by authorizing all provincial, city and municipal governments to levy and collect an annual tax of 2% of the assessed value of real property that shall be in addition to the basic real property tax, and that shall accrue to the SEF.
