Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
TWENTIETH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
        HOUSE BILL NO. 
Introduced by REPRESENTATIVES JOSEPH KIM C. YU and JEYZEL VICTORIA 
C. YU
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
It is one of the primary duties of the State to ensure that all children are afforded 
basic education, regardless of their socioeconomic status or geographical location. 
The 1987 Philippine Constitution itself mandates the State to protect and promote 
the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels, making it accessible to all.  
Due to the challenging terrain in the country, and because we are a nation filled 
with indigenous communities located in the most remote areas, many children have 
to travel for hours—by vehicle or even on foot—to reach the nearest available 
school. It is an unfortunate fact that Filipino children do not have the choice but to 
face the hard realities of achieving progress, including ones as basic as getting the 
first formative education.  
 This bill seeks to ensure the establishment of Last Mile Schools to be administered 
by the DepEd. These schools are to be located in the geographically isolated and 
disadvantaged and conflict-affected areas (GIDCA), highlighting the urge of 
government to provide accessible schools to the learners of basic education. This 
measure further emphasizes the mandate of the different agencies of the 
government in making this advocacy possible, such as the Department of Public 
Works and Highways in constructing structures, the Department of Energy for the 
electricity provision, and the Department of Information and Communications 
Technology for technical and information concerns.  
 For the importance and relevancy of the reasons aforementioned, passage of this 
bill is earnestly sought.  
          JOSEPH KIM C. YU 
      JEYZEL VICTORIA C. YU 
  1st District, Zamboanga del Sur 
  2nd District, Zamboanga de Sur 
July 14, 2025
10:51 am
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Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
TWENTIETH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
        HOUSE BILL NO. 
Introduced by REPRESENTATIVES JOSEPH KIM C. YU and JEYZEL VICTORIA 
C. YU
AN ACT ESTABLISHING PUBLIC BASIC EDUCATION SCHOOLS IN 
GEOGRAPHICALLY ISOLATED AND DISADVANTAGED AND CONFLICT-
AFFECTED AREAS, PROVIDING ACCESS ROADS LEADING TO LAST MILE 
SCHOOLS, AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled: 
SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Last Mile Schools Act". 
SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is the declared policy of the State to protect and 
promote the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels, and take appropriate 
steps to make such education accessible to all. 
The State recognizes and promotes the rights of Indigenous Cultural Communities within 
the framework of national unity and development. To this end, the State shall recognize 
the right of indigenous families and communities to retain shared responsibility for 
upbringing, training, education and well-being of their children, consistent with the rights 
of their child.  
The State shall improve the quality and access to basic education of children in the far-
flung, isolated, disadvantaged and conflict-affected areas, as well as those in Last Mile 
Schools, by investing on school infrastructures and roads leading to the said public 
schools. 
SEC. 3. Definition of Terms. - As used in this Act: 
a. Basic education refers to the intended basic learning needs that provide the
foundation on which subsequent learning can be based. It includes kindergarten, 
elementary, and secondary education as well as alternative learning systems for out-of-
school learners and those with special needs. 
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b.  Basic Education School refers to learning institutions accredited by the 
Department of Education (DepEd) to deliver services addressing the intended basic 
learning needs of students. 
c.  Indigenous Cultural Communities (ICCs)/Indigenous Peoples (IPs) refer to the 
same definition stated in Section 3h, Chapter 2 of Republic Act No. 8371, or "The 
Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act of 1997", which describes it as "group of people or 
homogenous societies identified by self-ascription and ascription by others, who have 
continuously lived as organized community on communally bounded and defined territory, 
and who have, under claims of ownership since time immemorial, occupied, possessed 
and utilized such territories, sharing common bonds of language, customs, traditions and 
other distinctive cultural traits, or who have, through resistance to political, social and 
cultural inroads of colonization, non-indigenous religions and cultures, became 
historically differentiated from the majority of Filipinos. ICCs/IPs shall likewise include 
peoples who are regarded as indigenous on account of their descent from the populations 
which inhabited the country, at the time of conquest or colonization, or at the time of 
inroads of non-indigenous religions and cultures, or the establishment of present state 
boundaries, who retain some or all of their own social, economic, cultural and political 
institutions, but who may have been displaced from their traditional domains or who may 
have resettled outside their ancestral domains"; and 
d.   Last Mile Schools refer to public basic education schools with gaps in resources 
and facilities which are located in geographically isolated and disadvantaged and conflict-
affected areas (GIDCA). 
 
SEC. 4. Establishment of Last Mile Schools. - The Last Mile Schools are hereby 
established, under the administration of the DepEd, to cater to the basic education of 
learners throughout the country's GIDCA. 
 
The establishment of Last Mile Schools in locations situated by the ICCs shall be 
undertaken in consideration of the rights of the IPs in accordance with Republic Act No. 
8371.  
 
SEC.. 5. Access to Education. - The DepEd shall collaborate with concerned 
national government agencies for the delivery of the infrastructures necessary to ensure 
access to education in the Last Mile Schools, namely: 
 
a.   Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), for the construction of 
access roads leading to the location of Last Mile Schools; 
b. Department of Energy (DOE) and National Electrification Administration (NEA), 
for the installation of electricity; and 
c.  Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), for the 
installation of information and communications technology. 
 
SEC. 6. Criteria. - The indicators used in identifying a public school to be included 
among the Last Mile Schools are the following: 
 
a.   Having less than four (4) classrooms; 
b.     With makeshift or nonstandard rooms; 


c.  Absence of or irregular electricity; 
d.  Have not been allocated funds for repairs or new construction projects in the 
last four (4) years unless destroyed; 
e.   With travel distance of more than one hour from the center of a city or 
municipality, or with difficulty of terrain or of such nature as to be considered having 
difficulty of access to existing educational institutions; 
f.   Having multigrade classes or rooms; 
g.  With less than five (5) teachers; 
h.  Having a student population of less than one hundred (100) learners; 
i.  With more than seventy-five percent (75%) IP learners; and 
j.  Having such other circumstances that make it difficult for learners to access 
school facilities. 
 
 
SEC. 7. Implementation. - The school building program for the Last Mile Schools shall 
be established and completed within a period of five (5) years after the effectivity of this 
Act. 
 
To facilitate synchronicity, harmony and complementarity of plans, resources and 
efforts of both the national government and the local government units (LGUs) towards 
the attainment of the objectives of this Act, the DepEd shall plan and implement the 
programs, projects, and activities that address the needs of the Last Mile Schools, in 
coordination and collaboration with the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples 
(NCIP), DPWH, DICT, DOE, NEA, Department of Social Welfare and Development 
(DSWD), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), National Disaster 
Risk Reduction and Management Council 
(NDRRMC), and concerned LGUs. 
 
SEC. 8. Appropriations. - The amount necessary for the implementation of this Act shall 
be included in the budgets of the concerned Departments, agencies and Government-
Owned and Controlled Corporations in the annual General Appropriations Act. 
 
SEC. 9. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - Within ninety (90) days from the 
approval of this Act, the Secretary of Education shall, in consultation with the NCIP, 
DPWH, DICT, DOE, NEA, DSWD, DENR, NDRRMC, and Union of Local Authorities of 
the Philippines, formulate the rules and regulations implementing the provisions of this 
Act. 
 
SEC. 10. Separability Clause. - If any provision of this Act is held invalid or 
unconstitutional, the other provisions not so declared shall remain in force and effect. 
 
SEC. 11. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, orders and rules and regulations 
contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or amended 
accordingly 
 


SEC. 12. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in 
the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation. 
 
Approved,