President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has directed government agencies to work with the private sector to accelerate the construction of public school classrooms in the Ilocos Region.
During a meeting with the Regional Development Council in Dagupan City, Pangasinan, Marcos emphasized the importance of using public-private partnerships (PPPs) to speed up infrastructure development while lowering government costs.
“President Marcos said that public infrastructure and development projects can be implemented faster and at lower government costs by entering into contracts with the private sector through PPP,” the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said Saturday.
“The Chief Executive said such arrangements should be used again to accelerate the construction of classrooms.”
The Department of Education (DepEd) has proposed building nearly 3,000 classrooms in the region from 2025 to 2030. Marcos, however, called for faster action.
“I’m glad to see the intervention at DepEd, the construction of the classrooms. I think we need to accelerate that. I do not think we want to wait until 2030 for all of those classrooms,” he said.
The DepEd’s 2026 budget also includes hiring more principals, administrative officers, school counselor associates, and project development officers, along with efforts to fill vacant teaching positions and regularly deploy new teaching staff.