The Philippine National Police (PNP) will be deploying 37,000 cops for the opening of the 2025-2026 school year on June 16.

In a radio interview on Sunday, PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Jean Fajardo said the police force is ready for the return of an estimated 27 million students to school.

“We are ready. We will deploy around 37,000 police officers,” Fajardo said.

Five thousand police will be placed in police assistance desks in schools.

Police mobile cars and foot patrollers will also be deployed near schools.

The Department of Education (DepEd) announced in April that classes in public schools around the country will begin on June 16, returning to the pre-pandemic school calendar outlined in DepEd Order No. 12, Series of 2025.

Meanwhile, DepEd committed to addressing classroom shortages, with 165,000 lacking classrooms for the upcoming school year.

“We will be able to build 105,000 new classrooms, and we will accelerate it through the early procurement activities that we are pushing for. We are closely coordinating with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) on this matter,” DepEd Assistant Secretary Jocelyn Andaya said in a radio interview on Saturday.

Andaya also assured that they will be coordinating with local government units to fix broken items in classrooms and in the construction of new classrooms.

Balik Eskwela, including the Brigada Eskwela, a program where public schools are cleaned and fixed by students, teachers, and other members of the community, will be conducted from June 9 to 13. Velle White/DMS