Angara as DepEd chief: No offer yet

BALER, Aurora — Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara on Monday said he has yet to receive an offer officially from President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to take over from Vice President Sara Duterte as Education secretary.

“Maybe President Bongbong still needs time, as he said, to choose someone suitable and to his liking for the position,” Angara told reporters in an ambush interview.

The lawmaker said he is open to becoming the next Education secretary following Duterte’s resignation last month.

“Yes, we are open if we will be entrusted with it,” Angara said. Duterte’s resignation takes effect on 19 July.

Impossible to reject

Angara, who is in his second and last term as senator, said it would be difficult for him to turn down the position should Marcos offer it to him.

“It might be impossible to reject,” he said.

Asked he was willing to forgo the remainder of his Senate term, Angara, who is one of the commissioners of the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM), said he had yet to think about it.

“We’ll cross the bridge when we get there and see if the President needs us. You know we’d like to help him as well. We’re helping him in the Senate, so if we can help in other ways, why not?”

Angara declined to comment on reforms he would like to implement should the President appoint him to the DepEd, saying it would be “premature and improper.”

Decent job

“I think it’s somewhat premature and improper to talk about reforms, but definitely the next education secretary needs to address reforms such as in the quality of education and the so-called resource gaps or the shortage of classrooms, school facilities, and textbooks. There are many issues that need to be addressed,” he said.

Angara said Duterte did a decent job in her nearly two-year stint at the DepEd.

“I think she did a decent job, especially in decongesting the curriculum. That was long overdue, and it’s good that she started it,” he said.

“Our curriculum was too congested, and it was also noted in the EDCOM report that there were resources not being utilized in the budget every year, so hopefully that can be addressed as well,” he said.

Finish the term

Meanwhile, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, whose name was also floated for the DepEd, said he would want to finish his term in the Senate.

“I still have four years of my term and I should fulfill the mandate given to me by the public. I received 16 million votes and this is the mandate that was given to me,” he said in a separate interview.

“So fulfilling my mandate is only the right thing to do,” he added. Gatchalian said he has not received an offer from the Palace to head the DepEd.

The lawmaker said he would personally recommend Angara, whom he described as an “active member” of the EDCOM, the national commission tasked with undertaking a comprehensive national assessment and evaluation of the performance of the Philippine education sector.

“We need someone who knows the problem and the solution to it. We need someone who has experience,” the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Basic Education said.

Aside from Angara and Gatchalian, Marikina City 2nd District Rep. Stella Quimbo and Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual are reportedly being considered for the post.