Great Wall of Delays

Only 22 classrooms — that’s all the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has managed to complete this year out of its 1,700 target for 2025. DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon himself admitted this during a Senate budget hearing, reporting that 882 projects are still under construction, while another 882 haven’t even started. That’s a dismal 15.43% performance rate, and behind that statistic lies a national tragedy we seem to have normalized. Every unfinished classroom is more than just a structure left standing in dust — it’s a stolen opportunity for thousands of Filipino students. Across the country, children squeeze into overcrowded rooms, sharing desks, elbowing for space, and straining to hear their teachers over the noise. Learning, which should be a right, has become an act of endurance — a daily struggle for space, air, and attention. We call education the “great equalizer,” but how can it be equal when some students sit on the floor while others don’t even have classrooms to sit in? When the government’s budget promises vanish into red tape and failed targets, the poorest learners pay the price. In contrast, this isn’t just about incompetence; it’s about broken priorities. Billions are spent elsewhere while our schools crumble, and our students — our supposed “hope of the nation” — are left to learn in sweltering, overcrowded rooms. The government often boasts of ambitious infrastructure plans, but numbers mean nothing when children can’t even find a seat. Education is not built on blueprints or targets — it’s built on classrooms, teachers, and genuine commitment. Until our leaders treat education as a real investment rather than a talking point, those empty classrooms will stand as monuments of neglect. Because when the government fails to build classrooms, it’s not just walls that are missing — it’s the future that supposed to be protected.