GOOD MORNING, PILIPINAS! June 16, 2025, marks the balik-eskwela of 27.6 million students nationwide. From Ilocos to Tawi-Tawi, they marched in—armed with notebooks, starched uniforms, and one collective prayer: Sana pumasa sa Math.
Welcome to SY 2025–2026, where hopes are high, classrooms are short, and Wi-Fi still doesn’t reach the back row.
DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara called Day One “smooth.” True—if you don’t count fires, floods, and mpox jitters. In Quezon City, 640 students were rerouted to a gym after a classroom fire. In Malabon, floods turned campuses into mini-lagoons. In Iloilo, students came to class with both face masks and faith.
With the June–March calendar restored, so are the headaches: 165,000 classrooms short, and in Central Visayas alone, 3,000–5,000 rooms and 1,000 teachers are missing. At this rate, backlog clearance might take longer than your crush’s reply.
Good news: 33,000 laptops, 5,000 support units, and 26,000 smart TVs were distributed. But many classrooms still resemble storage rooms with chalkboards. ACT teachers held a “sunrise protest” demanding not just gadgets—but real solutions.
The PNP deployed 37,740 officers to keep 45,000+ schools safe. So far, peaceful—though some classrooms still battle with one electric fan and sixty students. That should be a Category 1 emergency.
“I came to school para makatabang sa pamilya,” said Nick Dan, 17, from Liloan, Cebu. Another said it best: “Happy ko pero kapoy. Ambot unsa ni’ng feeling.” A national mood, captured in one line.
First-day verdict? Full of hope, still full of holes.
But if there’s one thing the Filipino student never lacks, it’s resilience (and a little humor).
So here’s to a year of fewer “Wala pa ang teacher” moments, and more “Sir, we used the Smart TV!” victories.
Class dismissed—for now.
