{"id":777039644,"date":"2026-03-25T07:34:43","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T10:34:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777039644"},"modified":"2026-04-21T13:09:55","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T16:09:55","slug":"pagcor-commits-initial-us22-8m-for-nationwide-school-building-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/pagcor-commits-initial-us22-8m-for-nationwide-school-building-program","title":{"rendered":"PAGCOR commits initial US$22.8m for Philippine school building programme"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The agency signed a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Education and representatives of the initial batch of 25 beneficiary local government units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>The Philippines.- The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) has announced that it has allocated an <strong>initial PHP1.37bn (US$22.8m)<\/strong> for the construction of 25 state schools nationwide. The funding forms part of PAGCOR\u2019s <strong>two-year plan to build 125 school buildings<\/strong>, or about 1,500 classrooms, the <strong>Department of Education (DepEd)<\/strong> to help address a lack of classrooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To formalise the initiative, PAGCOR has signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with DepEd and representatives of the <strong>initial batch of 25 beneficiary local government units<\/strong> or LGUs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Alejandro H. Tengco<\/strong>, PAGCOR chairman and CEO, said funds totalling more than PHP8bn (US$133m) have already been earmarked \u201cOur commitment to <strong>President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.<\/strong> is that all classrooms will be completed not later than 2027,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"371\" src=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/03\/pagcor-commits-initial-php1.37b-for-nationwide-school-building-program-3b-900x371.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-777039651\" srcset=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/03\/pagcor-commits-initial-php1.37b-for-nationwide-school-building-program-3b-900x371.jpg 900w, https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/03\/pagcor-commits-initial-php1.37b-for-nationwide-school-building-program-3b.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The funds will be released to the LGUs in <strong>three tranches <\/strong>based on construction progress and compliance with project standards. The first batch of recipients includes LGUs in La Union, Pangasinan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Bulacan, Zambales, Batangas and Cavite, as well as those in Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Albay, Camarines Sur, Antique, Samar, Davao Oriental, South Cotabato, Lanao del Sur and Sulu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Each local government unit will receive approximately PHP55m to construct a three-storey school building with 12 classrooms, equipped with chairs, tables, PWD-friendly facilities, electric fans, microphones, a 75-inch smart TV, and a one-year free internet subscription.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tengco said: \u201cWe have learnt that the country has an estimated 165,000 classroom shortage, which is a daunting challenge for any administration.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He said a new initiative will require PAGCOR\u2019s online gaming licensees to allocate <strong>a portion of their gross gaming revenues to socio-civic programmes<\/strong>, including the repair and rehabilitation of public school buildings nationwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br><\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"see-also-container\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"see-also-label\">See also:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"related-article\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"related-article__thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/01\/a8c82418-42dd-4253-8bf7-9168dce8f4ba-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"related-article__text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"see-also-label-strong\">See also:<\/span> <a href='https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/melco-resorts-foundation-donates-around-us170-000-in-security-equipment-to-strengthen-metro-manila-public-safety'>Melco Resorts Foundation donates equipment to police in Metro Manila<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The agency signed a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Education and representatives of the initial batch of 25 beneficiary local government units.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":226,"featured_media":777039650,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) has allocated an initial PHP1.37bn (US$22.8m) for the construction of 25 state schools, part of a larger PHP8bn (US$133m) commitment to address classroom shortages by 2027. This initiative will be partly funded by a new mandate requiring PAGCOR's online gaming licensees to allocate a portion of their gross gaming revenues (GGR) to socio-civic programs. A Memorandum of Agreement has been signed with the Department of Education and beneficiary local government units to formalize the project.","focusai_entities":"Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, PAGCOR, Department of Education, DepEd, Alejandro H. Tengco, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Melco Resorts Foundation","focusai_location":"Philippines, La Union, Pangasinan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Bulacan, Zambales, Batangas, Cavite, Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Albay, Camarines Sur, Antique, Samar, Davao Oriental, South Cotabato, Lanao del Sur, Sulu, Metro Manila","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.95), regulator (0.98), compliance_legal (0.92), operator_casino (0.97), investor_analyst (0.93), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"GGR Allocation Impact?","query":"What is the projected financial impact of the mandated GGR allocation on the NGR and profitability of PAGCOR's online gaming licensees?"},{"label":"Compliance Mechanism Details?","query":"What are the specific compliance and reporting mechanisms PAGCOR will implement to ensure online gaming licensees adhere to the GGR allocation for socio-civic programs?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[23876,16333],"tags":[405,25187,24822,24804],"class_list":["post-777039644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-news","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-pagcor","tag-school-building-program","tag-social","tag-the-philippines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777039644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/226"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777039644"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777039644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777039684,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777039644\/revisions\/777039684"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777039650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777039644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777039644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777039644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}