by Ernesto T. Solidum
In a recent DepEd budget hearing, Sen. Franklin Drilon was visibly shocked over the P730,000 cost for the construction of one classroom of 63 square meters. The reason is that based on disbursement of his PDAP the actual cost is only P325,000. DepEd builds most expensive buildings of inferior quality and out of specification.
DepEd spent P1.25 million to construct a classroom in a 2 storey building and P730,000 for a classroom in a single storey building. According to Senator Drilon, this budget is already the cost of one multi-storey condominium. Even the luxurious structure in the country is shoddily constructed, unpainted and susceptible to strong wind and floods.
Why the sudden interest in getting into actual cost of constructing classrooms? Well, Mr. Antonio Cosing, Vice Pres. of Fil-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) reported that they built 5,000-2 room school buildings that cost only P370,000 each and took just 15 days to finish. This means 74.6 percent less expensive than the one contracted by Sec. Armand Luistro of DepEd. Although the budgets differ between regions and among regions due to cost of construction materials, the above expenditure is legitimate and/or accurate.
The classroom shortage in the country stands at 48,802 at an average number of 45 pupils per room. Due to the acute problems, DepEd is forced to accommodate 60-70 pupils making room hot, humid and miserable both for kids and mentors to concentrate on teaching – learning process. Thus, the DepEd must appropriate an outlandish sum of P35.6 billion in order to address this classroom deficit.
Pres. P-noy last year suspended three (3) bridge projects funded by the United Kingdom, Austria and Spain contracted under the previous administration for anomalies particularly in the awarding of contracts. This was part of the P111 billion infra spending that the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee unearthed plus the P10 – P15 billion missing fund.
Corruption in the Philippines is endemic and pervasive. The Makati Business Club Pres. Ramon del Rosario, Jr. said that 20 percent of the government budget or P300 billion per year is lost to corruption. Graft and plunder cases in the country regularly fill our airwaves and tabloids of sleaze committed by top government officials. Many escaped the dragnet because of political patronage. The latest success was the conviction of chief justice Renato Corona for unexplained wealth.
Confucius said that in a well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of, in a badly governed society, wealth is something to be ashamed of. This is timely wisdom but majority of our leaders have lost this delicadeza. Political dynasties flourish because wealth is tied to politics and vice versa. One way of leveling the playing field is to scrap the pork barrel so poor but deserving candidates could evenly, fairly compete and win in the election.
The Philippines with GDP per capita of $2,223 is presently falling at its UN Millenium Development Goals (MDG) in eradicating extreme poverty, achieving universal primary education, child mortality and sustaining maternal health. Only passing marks are on reducing TB, HIV/AIDS incidence, gender equity and ensuring environmental sustainability.
With 21.76 million youth enrolled in 45,927 public schools against the backdrop of perennial classroom, toilet, desk and teacher shortages expected result can only be mediocrity and inefficiency of graduates. The 2012-13 Global Competitiveness Report shows that China ranked 69th while the Philippines is 98th. Even with math and science competition, the country’s youth ranks at the bottom list among Asian countries.
We need to allocate more funds for education but make sure that realistic and honest budget spending is observed. Other items that need to be checked are computer software that are procured and distributed by DepEd Regional Offices. Corrupt officials in the DepEd must be weeded out and meted the highest penalty under the law. Teachers ought to be models of discipline and uprightness. /MP
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