The Department of Education-National Employees Union (DepEd-NEU) on Friday commended Education Secretary Sonny Angara for hiring new lawyers in all public schools division offices of the agency.

According to DepEd-NEU national president Domingo Alidon, they have long been advocating for permanent legal officers in every division office to directly support the schools division superintendents.

"The main function of our superintendents is to lead and manage education. 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,” Alidon said in an interview.

Under the old system, only lawyers from regional offices were expected to address the legal and administrative concerns of small division offices. Because of this, delays and backlogs in resolving legal and administrative cases occurred. But now, lawyers have been assigned to every schools division office to immediately respond to legal investigations, procurement processes, administrative functions, and other legal matters.

Aside from lawyers, the Department of Education has also hired executive officers, administrative officers, and other relevant personnel to handle non-teaching workloads previously done by teachers. As a result, teachers' workloads have decreased, allowing them to focus more on their primary role—teaching children.

"Though the number of 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 of 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.

DepEd earlier announced it will deploy 666 new plantilla personnel—including lawyers, legal assistants, and procurement staff—to public schools division offices nationwide.

This move follows the Department of Budget and Management’s formal approval on August 1, 2025, of DepEd’s request to create and reclassify various legal and procurement positions across 223 schools division offices, addressing longstanding staffing gaps that have hampered operations at the local level.

The approval covers the creation of new plantilla positions across all schools division offices, specifically: 47 Attorney III, 187 Legal Assistant I, 214 Administrative Officer IV, and 218 Administrative Officer II positions. Education Secretary Sonny Angara emphasized that the initiative addresses a critical human resource gap that has strained field offices for years.

While DepEd began reorganizing its legal services under the Rationalization Plan of 2015, the increasing demand for legal assistance at the division level has outpaced current staffing capacity.

Currently, legal services—such as case resolution, contract review, legal research, and client consultations—are often shared among personnel from nearby divisions or regions, resulting in delayed actions and employee fatigue.

The newly approved items will allow each of the 47 small schools division offices to have their own full-time legal officer, supported by Legal Assistant I positions across small and medium divisions.

In addition to legal staffing, the DBM also approved the creation of dedicated procurement staff across all schools division offices, composed of 214 Administrative Officer IV and 218 Administrative Officer II positions. These will enable division offices to handle procurement functions more efficiently and in compliance with existing regulations.

Except for four of the largest schools division offices, most divisions currently lack permanent procurement personnel. Procurement tasks are usually assigned as additional duties to existing staff.