THIRTEENTH CO GRESS OF THE 
1 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
1 
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First Regular Session 
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S E N A T  
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Introduced by Senator Edgardo J. Angara 
EXPLAN AT0 RY NOTE 
There is a severe shortage of school buildings and classrooms throughout 
Classroom and school building construction remains critically low 
the country. 
and cannot keep pace with growths in enrolment rates. 
For the period of 1997-2000, enrolment at the elementary level grew by 
1.85% or 228,000 pupils per annum on average and 1.47% or 75,000 students 
per year at the secondary level. While enrolment increased by 2.51% in 1998, 
the DECS real budget grew by only 1.7%. 
Almost 80% of DECS budget goes to personal services leaving too little 
for the purchase of basic inputs leaving too little for construction of classrooms 
and other basic facilities. 
As it stands, the classroom backlog is severe. Many towns throughout the 
country do not have a public high school where school-aged children can study. 
Numerous barangays do not have public elementary schools. 
The lack of 
classrooms and schools makes going to school more costly for parents - and 
less feasible. 
It is not surprising that dropout rates remain alarmingly high. Out of every 
hundred Filipino children who enter Grade One, only 69 reach grade 6, and 48 
complete high school, and I 8  finish college. The dropouts come mostly from the 
poorest regions - like Bicolandia and Eastern Visayas - which have also fallen 
way behind the other regions in development. 
With the School building Act of 2000, we expect to refocus the DECS 
budget back to basics in order to provide basic, accessible and affordable 
education to our countrymen. 
And with innovative building schemes such as 
Build-Operate-and-Transfer and through partnerships with the private sector and 
local government units, additional funds could be sourced in order to ease the 
severe and critical classroom backlog. 
The bill provides for an Emergency School building fund amounting to 15 
billion pesos, which will be released and utilized for a period of five years. The 
Five-Year School building Program targets to eliminate the classroom shortages 
for a definite period of time. 
For the abovementioned reasons, the immediate approval of this bill is 
earnestly sought. 
EDGARDO J. ANGARA 


THIRTEENTH CO 
1 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
1 
First Regular Session 
1 
S E N A T  
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Introduced by Senator Edgardo J. Angara 
AN ACT 
PROVIDING 
FOR A 
FIVE-YEAR 
EMERGENCY 
SCHOOL 
BUILDING 
PROGRAM, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines 
in Congress assembled: 
Section 1. Short Title. This Act shall be known as the “School Building 
Act of 2001 .” 
Section 2. Declaration of Policy. It is the declared policy of the State to 
establish, maintain, and support a complete, adequate and integrated system of 
education relevant to the needs of the people society. Towards this end, it is 
imperative that there be a complete elementary school in every barangay and a 
complete high school in every town, in order that primary and secondary 
education be made available and accessible to all citizens in all geographical 
areas of the country. 
In the choice of location of school buildings, the economic principle of 
comparative advantage shall always be adhered to. 
Section 3. 
Implementing Agency. 
For purposes of this Act, the 
Department of Education, Culture and Sports (‘DECS) shall undertake the 
construction of the following: 
I .  
2. 
3. 
Fifteen thousand (15,000) additional classrooms every year for a 
period of five years, in order to address the classroom backlog in 
various parts of the country; 
One elementary school for every barangay which does not have a 
public elementary school at the time of passage of this Act; and 
One high school for every town, which does not have a public high 
school at the time of passage of this Act. 
Provided, that the DECS shall undertake the construction of new school 
buildings, rehabilitation, replacement, completion and repair of school buildings 
which targets the current backlog as defined in the National Inventory of School 
Building shortage. Provided, further that the DECS shall finish the construction, 
rehabilitation, and repair of school buildings under this Act within five years from 
the passage hereof. 
Section 4. 
School Building mapping. The DECS shall undertake a 
nationwide aqnual inventory of school buildings which will determine the extent of 
shortage of classrooms in each division including those which are funded by the 
local government units, private sector and national government. The DECS shall 
develop a school building construction workplan for a period of five years which 
will include the priority areas for construction, rehabilitation and repair of school 
buildings for the next five years as well as the budgetary requirements needed to 
implement the work plan. 


Section 5. Simplified Public Bidding. The construction, repair, rehabilitation, 
improvement, or maintenance of schoolbuildings under this Act shall follow the 
Commission on Audit (COA) rules on simplified public bidding. 
Section 6. Other School buildinq Construction Schemes. The Government shall 
also encourage the construction of school buildings under this Act through other 
viable schemes for the construction of school buildings such as build-operate- 
transfer, build-transfer and other schemes that will fast-track the construction of 
schoolbuildings. 
Section 7. Monitorina and Evaluation. An Oversight Committee composed of the 
Secretary of Education, Culture and Sports as Chairman, the Chairmen of the 
Senate and House Committees on Education as Co-Vice Chairmen, and the 
heads of the Bureau of Secondary Education (“BSE”) and Bureau of Elementary 
Education (“BEE”), and the Regional Directors of DECS shall monitor the 
implementation of this Act; Provided, that the Oversight Committee shall meet 
quarterly to determine areas in critical need of additional classrooms and 
schoolbuildings. 
The DECS shall establish School building Task Force at the central, regional and 
division offices to monitor the construction of the school buildings so as to ensure 
that the buildings meet the minimum requirements and standards set by the 
DECS. 
Section 8. Exemption from Election Ban. The repair, maintenance and 
rehabilitation of schoolbuildings as well as BOT schoolbuilding projects shall be 
exempted from the scope of the election ban on public works. 
Section 9. 
local government units (the “LGUs”) where the schoolbuildings shall be located, 
in order to identify priority locations that take into account the number of school- 
age children without access to adequate public school facilities. 
Local Governmen 2 Unit Participation. DECS shall coordinate with 
Construction of schoolbuildings and classrooms shall be a priority investment of 
the LGUs which shall provide a counterpart of not less than ten percent (10%) of 
the project cost subject t‘o their IRA level. 
Section I O .  Private Sector Participation. Private individuals, corporations, 
foundations and civic societies (the “Private Proponent”) may undertake the 
construction of school buildings or classrooms in an area within the Region which 
the Oversight Committee designates as deficient in school buildings and 
classrooms. The Private Proponent may apply in payment of taxes due from it to 
the government an amount equivalent to 100% of the school building and 
classroom construction works it may have undertaken with the prior approval of 
the Oversight Committee under such terms and conditions as the Oversight 
Cohmittee may determine and in consultation with other government agencies 
concerned, provided that: 
(i) 
the title to all such construction works shall, upon completion, be 
transferred to the Philippine Government; and 
(ii) 
should the Private Proponent undertake necessary and major 
maintenance work on schoolbuildings and classrooms with ‘the prior approval of 
the Oversight Committee, a similar incentive shall be given to it in an amount 
equivalent to the cost of such necessary maintenance. 
Provided, .that in cases where the Oversight Committee may certify that 
construction of school buildings or classrooms, or the rehabilitation thereof is 
urgently needed in specific areas, the Private Proponent undertaking the 
construction or rehabilitation may apply in payment of taxes due from it to the 
gov$rnment an amount equivalent to 200% of the construction work it may have 
undertaken with the prior approval of the Oversight Committee. 


Section I I. 
Emergency School building Fund. An amount of Fifteen Billion Pesos 
(PI 5,000,000,000) shall be set aside for the Emergency School building Fund, 
which shall be used for classroom construction, repair and rehabilitation for a 
period of five years as mandated by this Act. An initial amount of Three Billion 
Pesos (P3,000,000,000) shall be ,released to the DECS on the first quarter of the 
calendar year following the year of the effectivity of this Act, including its notice 
of cash allocation to administer the program. 
Provided, that the Emergency School Building Fund shall be utilized without 
prejudice to the annual DECS capital outlay provided under the General 
Appropriations Act. Provided further, that the appropriations provided for in this 
Act shall be used only during the five-year period of the implementation of this 
Act. Provided, finally, that after the five-year period, the funding for the school 
building program, which targets annual incremental increase in enrolment, shall 
be taken from the regular DECS capital outlay. 
Section 12. Use of Appropriation. The Oversight Committee shall define the 
guidelines on how to allocate the Emergency School building Fund equitably 
throughout the country. Provided that the primary objective in the use of any 
allocation shall be to eliminate classroom shortages in a period of five years 
Section 13:Filing 
of report. - 
The Secretary of Education, Culture and Sports 
shall file with the Office of the President of the Philippines and with the Senate 
and House of Representatives a detailed report on the progress of construction 
of school buildings and classrooms on May 
a 
of each year. 
SECTION 14. Implementatio? - The Secretary of Education, Culture and 
Sports in coordination with the Department of Budget and Management is 
hereby directed to promulgate rules and regulations necessary for the immediate 
implementation of this Act. 
SECTION 15. Separabilitv clause. - If, for any reason, any part or provision of 
this Act is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining parts or provisions 
not affected thereby shall remain in full force and effect. 
SECTION 16. Repealing clause. - All laws, presidential decrees, executive 
orders and letters of instruction contrary to or inconsistent with this Act are 
hereby 
repealed 
or 
amended 
accordingly. 
SECTION 17. Effectivitv clause. - 
This Act shall take effect upon its publication 
in two newspapers of general circulation. 
Approved, 
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