Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

H. B. no, 815

Introduced by HONORABLE JUAN EDGARDO “SONNY” M. ANGARA

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The number of school facilities built has not met the yearly building requirements caused
by increase in enrollment. As a result, the backlog of classroom has increased. This shortage in
the number of public school building in our country has always been a perennial problem
associated with deteriorating quality of our education system.

Today, the national classroom-student ratio for elementary and secondary public schools
it a straggering 1.65, due largely to the free education program, which has not been met by a
corresponding increase in the number of classrooms. With only Php2.5 Billion allocated for
school buildings in the 2001 GAA, the backlog of school rooms will increase to 30,100
classrooms by the end of 2007. To attain the ideal classroom-student ratio in the next five (5)
years, a total of 129,000 new classrooms have to be constructed excluding those that have to
be rehabilitated.

The bill seeks to create a comprehensive program which will address the problem of
classroom shortage. A salient feature of this bill is the provision of build-operate-transfer,
building-lease-transfer, build-transfer, rehabilitate-operate-transfer, and other contractual
arrangements that will allow the use of both government and private funds to finance the
construction of needed school buildings, and the creation of an inter-agency committee to
formulate and ensure the effective implementation of the program by the Department of
Education, The program also provide for the integration of all the necessary information for the
effective monitoring and maintenance of existing school buildings.

It is hoped that with the passage of this bill, class sizes will be reduced to a manageable
level for a more conducive learning environment and thus result in the improvement in the
quality of our education,

In view thereof, immediate passage of this bill is earnestly requested. |!

JUAN EDGARDO “!
Representative
Lone District, Provil

INY” M. ANGARA

of Aurora


FIFTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE)
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES)
First Regular Session )

H.B. no,__615

Introduced by Honorable JUAN EDGARDO “SONNY” M. ANGARA

AN ACT
RESTRUCTURING THE ALLOCATION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION’S
BUDGET FOR CAPITAL OUTLAY, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE REPUBLIC
ACT NO. 7880, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE ‘FAIR AND EQUITABLE ACCESS
TO EDUCATION ACT’ AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Section 3 of Republic Act No. 7880 is hereby amended to read as follows:

“SEC. 3. Definition of Terms. - As used in this Act, the following ‘terms
are hereby defined as follows:

(a) Capital outlay — refers to the provisions of the General Appropriations Act,
particularly those pertaining to the budget of the [DECS] DEPED for
elementary and secondary education for [(i) the acquisition and improvement
of sites; (ji] the construction, replacement, rehabilitation and repair of
buildings, classrooms, libraries, workshops, toilets and other structures; [ and
(iil) furniture, fixtures, and equipment such as, but not limited to, desks,
chairs, laboratory and workshop implements, computers, books, and the
other basic and essential tools for learning whose beneficial use shall exceed
one (1) year; and]

(B) CLASSROOM — REFERS TO A STRUCTURE OR BUILDING INTENDED ©
FOR INSTRUCTIONAL PURPOSES, INCLUDING THE CHAIRS, TABLET
ARMCHAIRS AND OTHER SIMILAR FIXTURES; AND SHALL EXCLUDE
OFFICES, LIBRARIES, LABORATORIES, WORKSHOPS AND THE LIKE;
AND

{(b)] (C) Classroom shortage - refers to {the number of classrooms whose
construction, in considering] A CONDITION WHERE the number of students
WHEN divided by the existing number of classrooms|,] shall result in a
student-classroom ratio of MORE THAN [45] 40:1[; classrooms shall mean


those exclusively used for instructional purposes and shall exclude offices,

libraries, laboratories, workshops and the like].”
SEC. 2. Section 4 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows: ,

“SEC. 4, Allocation of Appropriation. — Notwithstanding any provision
of the law to the contrary, the annual [DECS] DEPED budget for capital outlay,
as defined in Section 3(a), shall be allocated among the legislative districts in the

following manner:
[(a) On the first year of the effectivity of this Act:

(1) thirty (80%) of the total capital outlay to be allocated pro-rata according to
each legislative district’s student population in relation to total student
population of the country;

(2) sixty percent (60%) of the total capital outlay allocated only among those -
legislative districts with classroom shortages, as defined in Section 3 (b), pro-
rata to the total classroom shortage of the country pursuant to Section 3 (b)
as determined by the DECS; and

(3) ten percent (10%) to be allocated in accordance with the implementation of
the policy of this Act as may be determined by the DECS.

(b) On the second year and every year thereafter:

(1) fifty percent (60%) of the total capital outlay to be allocated pro-rata according
to each legislative district's student population in relation to total student
population of the country;

(2) forty percent (40%) of the total capital outlay to be allocated only among
those legislative districts with classroom shortages as defined in Section 3
(b), pro-rata to the total classroom shortage of the country pursuant to
Section 3 (b) as determined by the DECS; and

(8) ten percent (10%) to be allocated in accordance with the implementation of
the policy of this Act as may be determined by the DECS.]

(A) TEN PERCENT (10%) OF THE TOTAL CAPITAL OUTLAY TO BE
ALLOCATED PRO-RATA ACCORDING TO EACH LEGISLATIVE
DISTRICT'S STUDENT POPULATION IN RELATION TO THE TOTAL
STUDENT POPULATION OF THE COUNTRY:


(B) EIGHTY PERCENT (80%) OF THE TOTAL CAPITAL OUTLAY TO BE
ALLOCATED ONLY AMONG THOSE LEGISLATIVE DISTRICTS WITH
CLASSROOM SHORTAGES AS DEFINED IN SECTION 3 (C), PRO-
RATA TO THE TOTAL CLASSROOM SHORTAGE OF THE COUNTRY.
PURSUANT TO SECTION 3(C) AS DETERMINED BY THE DEPED; AND

(C) TEN PERCENT (10%) TO BE ALLOCATED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE POLICY OF THIS ACT AS MAY BE
DETERMINED BY THE DEPED.

SEC. 3. Section 5 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

“SEC. 5. Use of Allocation. - The total amount allocated herein shall be
used exclusively for capital outlay pursuant to the educational priorities of the
legislative district, as determined by the [DECS] DEPED upon prior consultation
with the representative of each legislative district: Provided, That the primary
objective in the use of any allocation shall be to eliminate
SCHOOLBUILDING/classroom shortages AND TO REHABILITATE AND
REPAIR EXISTING SCHOOLBUILDINGS AND CLASSROOMS. [if any:
Provided, further, That any amount allocated in accordance with subparagraph
(1) of paragraphs (a) and (b) of the preceding section shall be used only for the
acquisition or improvement of school sites, construction of schoolbuildings and
classroom and the purchase of material or equipment that directly aid in
education: Provided, furthermore, That the amount so appropriated in
accordance with subparagraph (2) of paragraphs (a) and (b) of the same section
shall be used exclusively for the construction of new schoolbuildings; Provided,
finally, That if the amount so appropriated in subparagraph (2) of paragraphs (a)
and (b) should exceed the amount required to meet classroom shortage, the
excess shall be integrated with subparagraph (1) of paragraphs (a) and (b) of the
same section excluding capital outlays of division offices, regional and central
offices.]

SEC. 4. Section 6 on Implementing Rules and Regulations of the same Act is hereby
deleted and in lieu thereof, a new Section 6 is hereby added, which shall read as follows:

SEC. 6. REPORTORIAL REQUIREMENT. - THE DEPARTMENT OF
BUDGET AND MANAGEMENT (DBM), THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC
WORKS AND HIGHWAYS (DPWH), AND THE DEPARTMENT OF
EDUCATION (DEPED) ARE HEREBY REQUIRED TO SUBMIT TO THE
RESPECTIVE COMMITTEES ON EDUCATION OF BOTH HOUSES OF
CONGRESS AN ANNUAL REPORT ON THE RELEASE AND UTILIZATION
OF THE CAPITAL OUTLAY UNDER THIS ACT: PROVIDED, THAT SUCH

3


SUBMISSION SHALL BE SEPARATE AND DISTINCT FROM THE REPORTS
THEY SUBMIT TO CONGRESS RELATED TO DELIBERATIONS ON THE
ANNUAL GENERAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT.

SEC. 5. Section 8 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows: .

“SEC. 8, Penal Clause. - ANY VIOLATION OF THE PROVISIONS OF
THIS ACT SHALL BE CONSIDERED AS DERELICTION OF DUTY AS SET
FORTH IN PERTINENT ADMINISTRATIVE AND CIVIL SERVICE LAWS, AND
SHALL BE ADMINISTRATIVELY DEALT WITH IN ACCORDANCE WITH
APPROPRIATE EXISTING ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES AND
PENALTIES.

Any public official or employee or private individual who wilfully or
knowingly misappropriates the funds allocated herein or uses the same for
personal gain in violation of Section 5 of this Act shall be punished with perpetual
disqualification from public office and imprisonment for not less than six (6) years
but not more than fifteen (15) years.

SEC. 6. All references to the “Department of Education, Culture and Sports” or “DECS”
under Republic Act No. 7880 are hereby amended to read as “Department of Education” or
“DepED”, respectively

SEC. 7. Implementing Rules and Regulations. The Department of Education shall,
upon consultation with the Department of Budget and Management and the Department of
Public Works and Highways, promulgate the necessary rules and regulations for the immediate
and effective implementation of this Act within a period of sixty (60) days afer its effectivity.

SEC. 8, Repealing Clause. All laws, decrees, orders, rules and regulations, and other
issuances or parts thereof, that are contrary to or inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed or
amended accordingly.

SEC. 9. Separability Clause. If, for any reason, any part or provision of this Act is
subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional, the validity of the remaining provisions hereof
shall remain in full force and effect.

SEC. 10. Effectivity. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days following its publication
in at least two (2) national newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,