House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio has raised alarm over what he described as a continuing shortage and underuse of textbooks in the public education system, citing Commission on Higher Education (EDCOM 2) data showing that the Department of Education (DepEd) procured only 27 textbook titles over a 10-year period.

During a House hearing, Tinio said the figure reflects not only procurement delays but a deeper shift in education policy under the K to 12 program that, he argued, deprioritized textbooks in favor of modular learning materials.

 “If we’re facing a literacy crisis—basic and functional literacy—one basic problem is that students no longer have actual books to read,” Tinio said. 

“Wala nang librong binabasa ang mga estudyante, kaya lumulubha ang problema sa literacy. Kailangang ibalik ang textbook bilang pangunahing batayan ng pagkatuto, hindi module na xerox o PowerPoint lang,” he added.

Tinio also contrasted public school conditions with private schools, which he said continued to rely on textbooks as core learning materials even after the K-12 transition.

“In private schools, textbooks remained central. In public schools, students often have no books to bring home, reread, and learn from,” he said. “How can we build literacy without sustained exposure to books?”

During the same hearing, Muntinlupa Rep. Jaime Fresnedi supported concerns raised by Tinio, citing reported gaps from their Schools Division Office, including cases where certain grade levels had no textbook deliveries.

DepEd officials presented a procurement and delivery schedule, noting that textbooks for Grades 1, 4, and 7 were processed in 2024, followed by Grades 2, 3, 5, and 8 in 2025, with early procurement underway for Grades 6, 9, and 10 in 2026. 

The agency said deliveries are targeted before or at the start of the school year.

DepEd also maintained that textbooks remain the recommended primary instructional material, while acknowledging that delivery gaps persist in some grade levels and subject areas. 

The agency further reported that a total of 31 textbook titles have been procured.

Tinio, however, argued for a reversal of what he described as a long-standing de facto policy sidelining textbooks in public schools.

“DepEd must answer the question: why were textbooks abandoned for years as the primary basis of teaching and learning, and what concrete policy steps will ensure every learner actually has books—on time, complete, and used in class,” he said.

“Hindi sapat ang rekomendasyon kung wala namang librong dumarating. Dapat tiyakin ang kumpleto at maagap na delivery, at dapat gawing sentro ulit ng pagkatuto ang pagbabasa at paggamit ng aklat,” he added.