DepEd to DPWH: Address school infrastructure needs

MANILA, Philippines — Education Secretary Sonny Angara has urged Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan to address the infrastructure needs of schools after a viral video showed students in a remote Nueva Vizcaya village clinging to steel cables to cross a river and reach their school.

A bridge in Barangay Latbang destroyed by Super Typhoon Pepito in November 2024 had been replaced with steel cables, raising concerns amid controversy surrounding anomalous infrastructure and flood control projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways.

Students at Pinayag National High School in Kayapa town’s Sitio Macdu crossed a river by balancing themselves and clinging to the cables.

“Their story is a stark reminder of the broader infrastructure challenges that continue to affect our public school system,” Angara said in an Aug. 17 letter to Bonoan.

“We hope that our agencies can continue collaborating when it comes to urgent infrastructure needs in our schools, especially in disaster-prone or geographically isolated areas,” he added.

The DepEd is committed to strengthening its partnership with the DPWH to ensure that classrooms and access routes are strong, resilient and conducive to learning, Angara stressed.