Manila: The Department of Education (DepEd) on Wednesday announced a landmark achievement in its procurement process, successfully securing 100 percent of the 105 targeted textbook titles necessary for basic education.
According to Philippines News Agency, this accomplishment resolves a long-standing issue highlighted by the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II), where significant delays previously resulted in procuring only 27 out of 88 required titles between 2014 and 2023.
DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara attributed this success to the agency's rigorous enforcement of timelines, enhanced transparency, and stringent quality control measures. "When 27 titles in a decade is your baseline, delivering 105 titles in a single year isn't just an administrative achievement; it is a fundamental restoration of service to our learners," Angara emphasized.
He further elaborated on the systematic dismantling of procedural bottlenecks, asserting that the integration of transparency, speed, and quality control has ensured the delivery of complete, high-quality learning resources to schools promptly.
The historic milestone was achieved through strategic policy adjustments, marking a significant improvement from the previous 57 percent combined completion rate across 2024 and 2025, and a mere 31 percent from 2014 to 2023. "For 10 years, our public school system was trapped in a cycle where procuring a single textbook title took up to three years, leaving millions of learners and teachers without the fundamental tools they needed," Angara remarked.
The revised measures now limit initial technical checks to a five-day completion period, with content evaluation tightly bound to a 90-calendar day framework. Price considerations have been separated from material quality scoring, allowing titles that pass quality assurance to proceed directly to procurement without further modifications.
With the procurement fully completed this year, the 105 approved printed and electronic textbook titles are set for nationwide distribution, supporting the phased implementation of the curriculum. This process begins with Grades 1, 4, 7, and Senior High School in 2024, followed by Grade 3 and Grades 2, 5, and 8 in 2025, and concludes with Grades 6, 9, and 10 in 2026.
