President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has admitted being in a crucible finding a successor to Vice President Sara Duterte who resigned as education secretary.
It is not that candidates are few and far between but that there are many who are qualified for the post. The President said he was giving himself more time to make his choice.
“It turns out it’s harder than I thought because we have to get it right. So I’m giving myself more time,” he said in an ambush interview in Makati City.
Duterte’s abrupt resignation from her Cabinet post without recommending anyone to succeed her was not helping the President make his pick.
Last 19 June, Duterte stepped down as secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd) and vice chairperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict with immediate effect.
The Vice President said she did not recommend anyone to be the next DepEd chief.
“I did not recommend anyone because the post of secretary is a position of trust and confidence of the appointing authority which is the President,” she said in an interview on the sidelines of the Pasidungog event at Radisson Blue Hotel in Cebu City.
“So it’s up to the President to select my successor, one whom he fully trusts,” the Vice President said.
Duterte said she was not prioritizing politics right now, but was focused on an orderly transition at the DepEd.
Screen nominees
Marcos cited the need for a nominee to go through a screening process.
“As I told you before, we have to see what the DepEd needs. Of course, there are many calls for the new secretary to be an educator, there are many calls for the new secretary to be an administrator. There are new calls for a historical professor. All of these are valid concerns,” he said.
Marcos said he has gone through the credentials of aspirants, noting the new DepEd chief should be able to manage the large bureaucracy and handle complicated work.
“I’ve gone through so many CVs (curriculum vitae). We have many very good candidates,” he said.
The next DepEd head should be “somebody who has an understanding of what is important in terms of being an educator,” he stressed.
Galvanizing personality
“But then we also have to find, the same person has to have those qualities that can galvanize this very, very large democracy which is the DepEd, and to achieve all of those gains, or all of those changes, to make the educational standard better,” he said.
The President refused to name the individuals he is considering for the post but told reporters that he has noted all the qualities raised by different sectors for the next education secretary.
“That’s what education is all about,” Marcos said, emphasizing the need to appoint an educator “who can help both the teachers and students,” especially someone who can help “bring up the test scores.”
Duterte had lamented the Philippines’ poor performance in the 2022 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests.
In the 2022 PISA, the Philippines ranked 76th out of 81 countries in reading, 75th in mathematics, and 79th in science.
In mathematical literacy, the Philippines score increased from 353 in 2018 to 355 in 2022, and in scientific literacy, from 357 in 2018 to 356 in 2022. From 340 in 2018, the country’s 15-year-old learners scored 347 in 2022 in reading literacy.
Because of this, Marcos said he saw how far a DepEd chief needs to go to uplift the country’s basic education system.
“What we have always looked at are the test scores. We have to bring up the test scores. You all know that. So you need an educator who understands how to help the students, how to help the teachers, number one,” Marcos said.
“The job in DepEd is hard. That’s why we have to thank Inday Sara really for the effort that she put in,” he added.
Still wrapped in mystery
The Vice President did not give a reason for her resignation but assured that she had prepared a 30-day plan to ensure a seamless transition at the DepEd.
Marcos said he would no longer make a shortlist of candidates to replace Duterte.
“We’re looking at everyone. We don’t make a shortlist. Every time somebody, I know people myself, think this person can do the job and many people come to me and say, ‘Why don’t you think about this fellow, why don’t you think about this maestra (teacher),’” he said.
“In other words, yes, I am having a hard time because the DepEd job is very complicated,” he said.
Where she stands
“What we are doing now is focusing on the transition and turnover of the Department of Education and the continuation of our programs in the Office of the Vice President,” Duterte said.
Asked if she was now part of the opposition following her resignation from the Cabinet, Duterte said: “In my character and my principles, I don’t move for the administration and opposition.”
“Whatever that politics is, my move is based on what will help our countrymen,” she added.
Meanwhile, the Department of Education National Employees Union (DepEd NEU), a group of non-teaching personnel representing the collective voice of the agency’s rank-and-file employees, called on Marcos to appoint a secretary who is an academician, not a politician, to avoid the agency being used for politics.
“We are urging President Marcos to appoint a DepEd secretary who knows the landscape of the DepEd, one who knows the ins and outs at the agency,” DepEd-NEU president Domingo Alidon said.
“The President should appoint a secretary who understands the perennial problems of the education system, one who knows the plight of DepEd personnel from the bottom of his/her heart,” he added.
For its part, the Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) has recommended to the President four individuals for the next DepEd secretary.
The PBEd endorsed Senator Sonny Angara, Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian, Rep. Kiko Benitez, and Synergeia Foundation president Dr. Milwida Guevara.
“As the President is set to appoint an education secretary this week, PBEd reiterates the need to appoint people immersed in the education sector in order to hit the ground running and solve the learning crisis,” the group said.