The Department of Education-National Employees Union (DepEd-NEU) praised Education Secretary Sonny Angara on Friday for a new initiative to hire 666 new personnel for public schools nationwide, including lawyers for all division offices.

DepEd-NEU national president Domingo Alidon said the union has long pushed for permanent legal officers to support school division superintendents, who often face a backlog of legal and administrative issues.

“The main function of our superintendents is to lead and manage education,” Alidon said in an interview. “But due to the number of complaints, legal issues, and administrative concerns, they are often forced to perform tasks that are not part of their mandate. So, it’s a big help to have permanent lawyers in all division offices.”

The Department of Budget and Management formally approved the creation of the new positions on 1 August. The initiative aims to address longstanding staffing gaps that have hampered local operations.

The new hires include 47 lawyers, 187 legal assistants, 214 administrative officers for procurement, and 218 administrative officers for other tasks. This move will provide legal and procurement staff to schools that previously lacked dedicated personnel.

Angara said the new positions will allow teachers to focus on their primary role of teaching, as non-teaching workloads will be shifted to the new personnel.

“Though the number of the newly hired DepEd personnel is not enough, this is a big step towards better and faster public service,” Alidon said.

“Again, we thank Secretary Sonny Angara for his clear recognition on the needs of the DepEd workforce. This is a step that will definitely improve the quality of service to our teachers, non-teaching personnel, and most especially, to our learners,” he added.