More than 200 member of city and municipal mayors from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao gathered at the Makabagong San Juan National Government Center on Wednesday to throw their full support behind the Senate Bill No. 1482 otherwise known as Classroom-Building Acceleration Program (CAP) Act.
The gathering, “Mayor’s Dialogue on Accelerating Classroom-Building, coincides after the Philippine Senate unanimously passed the Classroom-Building Acceleration Program (CAP) Act on its third and final reading to dismantle the country’s chronic classroom crisis.
The momentum for the reform was fast tracked after Malacañang officially certified the bill as urgent, signaling a “whole-of-nation” offensive against a backlog that has stalled the dreams of millions of Filipino youth.
Authored by Senator Bam Aquino and the Chairperson of the Committee on Basic Education, the CAP Act was approved with a definitive 22-0 vote. The certification from the President allows for its immediate transmittal, bypassing the typical waiting period between readings to ensure the P65-billion classroom fund in the 2026 budget.
The “Mayor’s Dialogue on Accelerating Classroom-Building,” held at the Makabagong San Juan National Government Center, transformed into a strategic “Bayanihan” summit.
Led by Sen. Aquino, the dialogue served as a roadmap for local government units (LGUs) to take over the construction of school facilities—a task previously bottlenecked by national agencies.
The surge in support for CAP Act comes as the national classroom gap reached 166,000 units in late 2025, with projections warning it could hit 230,000 by 2028 without radical intervention.
For the first time, local chief executives are being empowered to plan, build, and monitor school infrastructure directly. Sen. Aquino emphasized that this decentralization is the only way to meet the staggering national backlog.
“I honestly think that the only way we can fulfill 25,000–30,000 classrooms for this year is if all of us build at the same time,…Kung sabay-sabay po tayong gagawa ng classroom, may tyansa po tayongmapunuan yung target. Kung isang ahensyalang po ang gagawa nito, tila imposible po yan,” he explained.
San Juan Mayor and League of Cities of the Philippines President Francis Zamora emphasized the efficiency of local execution if more than 1,600 municipalities and 149 cities in the country will build simultaneously.
By shifting to a decentralized “LGU-led” model, the bill enables the direct downloading of funds to local governments, allowing for parallel construction across thousands of sites simultaneously rather than waiting for a single agency to bid out projects. This strategy not only slashes costs bringing classroom prices down to an average of P1.5M–P1.8M compared to previous P3.5M estimates. The strategy will also ensure localized monitoring, as mayors are better positioned to identify and build in the “Last Mile” areas often overlooked by the national government.
Sen. Aquino told the local officials that the 2026 budget is the highest in history at P1.34 trillion provides the necessary fuel for change with P66 billion for classroom building.
“Ang kailangan po nating repormahin… it will take 2–3 terms, maybe 2–3 presidents. But we can start somewhere,… “Special provisions in the 2026 GAA already allow LGUs to build even before the CAP bill is fully signed. We are ready to go,” Aquino said.
The dialogue concluded with a commitment from the Department of Education to provide technical guidance and oversight, while mayors pledged to prioritize land donations for “Annex Schools.” This synergy aims to ensure students no longer have to trek for hours just to reach their schools.
“Ibig sabihin lang po nyan, alam po natinkung gaano kaseryoso ang problemang ito,…At kung paano po tayo pwede magtulunganpara mahanap yung solusyon,” he said.
Sen. Aquino also reiterates that CAP Act is a dual-purpose measure, serving as both a landmark educational reform and a powerful economic stimulus.
The P66 billion allocation intended for the construction of 25,000 classrooms this year is projected to create more than 100,000 jobs. By integrating infrastructure development with aggressive employment generation, Sen. Aquino argues that the legislation will simultaneously address the country’s classroom deficit and provide a necessary boost to the local labor market.
