VICE President Sara Duterte yesterday said she has no idea who would be her successor as Education secretary.
Duterte resigned from the Cabinet last week, giving up her posts as DepEd chief and vice chairperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict but did not explain her decision.
“I have no idea. Our priority is on transition and turnover. Let us focus on that before we discuss other things,” Duterte told reporters in a chance interview after attending an event in Cagayan de Oro.
Earlier, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, said Sen. Sonny Angara should be the next DepEd chief while Albay Rep. Joey Salceda floated the names of Angara, Commission on Higher Education Chairperson Prospero De Vera and Synergia Foundation chair Milwida “Nene” Guevarra to take Duterte’s post.
The Teachers Dignity Coalition has urged President Marcos Jr. to pick a “non-politician” to head the DepEd to spare the department from “political bickering” and ensure the next secretary would be able to focus on addressing the myriad problems facing the country’s basic education sector ranging from lack of school infrastructure to the dismal performance of Filipino students in international assessment tests.
Duterte said the President will appoint her successor, adding that picking someone from the education sector to head the DepEd is not a requirement.
“First, the position of secretary is a position of trust and confidence and, second, picking someone from the education sector is not a requirement. In the entire Southeast Asia, not all education secretaries came from the education sector,” she said.
She earlier said her resignation as DepEd chief is for the welfare of the teachers and students.
