Education Secretary Sonny Angara assured the public of transparency in the budget for classroom construction after meeting with the Mayors for Good Governance (M4GG) on Thursday.
Local government units will now have a role in planning and prioritizing classroom projects. Angara said discussions will ensure material costs remain fair and reputable companies handle the construction.
“Very important na transparent tayo sa pricing at nakikita ng publiko at yung gagawa talaga yung mga reputable companies talaga,” he said.
“Papakinggan natin yung mga local governments kung alin yung mga prayoridad dahil alam nila ito yung tinamaan nung bagyo, ito yung barangay na lumalaki, so dapat siguro may foresight na tayo kapag nag-construct tayo ng classrooms,” he added.
The bicameral conference committee approved a larger budget for DepEd, raising it to ₱961.3 billion from the ₱874.5 billion initially proposed in the National Expenditure Program.