The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is reorganizing its engineering units into combat-ready teams to reinforce the country’s territorial defense while maintaining readiness to support civilian infrastructure projects such as classroom construction.
The AFP said on Thursday, October 23, that its engineering arm, which has long contributed to national development, is now being realigned to strengthen military operations.
It described the shift as part of efforts to transform engineering teams into “combat engineer units” capable of supporting defense and security missions.
Even with this transition, the military affirmed that its Corps of Engineers can still be mobilized to assist other government agencies “when officially directed and within our mandate.”
The statement followed reports that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has completed only 22 classrooms out of the 1,700 targeted this year, with 822 still under construction.
The AFP said its engineering units are ready to help the Department of Education (DepEd) accelerate classroom construction but have not received any formal request.
Education Secretary Sonny Angara earlier lamented that only the DPWH has the authority to build classrooms, which limits the ability of other agencies to help address shortages.*
Reymund Titong is a Filipino journalist steadily building his voice in the field of news reporting, driven by a commitment to tell meaningful and relevant stories.
He serves as a correspondent for Rappler, contributes to Negros Daily Bulletin, and maintains a blog on Medium.