ILOILO – Local chief executives (LCEs) in this province respect the Department of Education’s (DepEd) process in hiring teachers in public schools.
League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP)-Iloilo president, San Enrique mayor Rosario Mediatrix “Trixie” Fernandez, said mayors do not intervene in the hiring process.
“Budlay man mag-intervene dira ang mga mayors. Indi sakto nga mag-intervene ka kay may gin-establish ang DepEd nga process,” said Fernandez in an interview with Panay News.
Vice President Sara Duterte, the concurrent DepEd secretary, earlier urged LCEs to steer clear of the appointment process of public school teachers in their respective municipalities and respect the ranking system during the 2023 League of Municipalities of the Philippines General Assembly.
“Kapag hindi natin sinusunod ang ranking ng ating mga teachers dahil po merong pinipili ang ating mga politicians at pine-pursue natin sa loob ng DepEd, hindi po natin talaga mababago ang kalidad ng edukasyon ng ating bayan,” Duterte said.
She added: “Kaya po kami ay nakikiusap na sundin po natin ang ranking sa ating pagpili sa mga teachers at hindi po dapat natin pinipilit kung sino yung kakilala, kaibigan, kamag-anak natin sa pagpapasok o hiring ng ating mga teachers,”
Fernandez said it was possible that in the past, the DepEd gave weight to the recommendation of mayors and local officials.
“Pero as we evolve, naga-evolve man ang system sa DepEd kay ti siguro naga-find ways man sila how to level up amo na nga process daw gin-do away na ang recommendation sang mayors,” added Fernandez.
However, the LMP-Iloilo president said there could be “confusion” sometimes in the process.
Fernandez cited as example a rank 1 math teacher applying but the school needed an English major that is either rank 2 or rank 3.
Here, she said, concerned teachers seek the help of the LCEs.
“Sa Iloilo daw wala man waslik poder nga mayors. Sa tuod lang, it’s a matter of explaining kay indi malikawan nga may nagasaka gid nga teacher sa amon nga nagapangayo sang bulig kay naanad sila sang una,” she added.
“Kon may makadto sa akon nga teachers, nagaprangka gid ako nga waay ako mahimu. Kon wala sa ranking wala gid ta na ma-obra. The DepEd will get teachers from the rank list. Kon waay timo dyan, waay ka gid,” she explained.
San Enrique is composed of 28 barangays with four high schools, more than 20 elementary schools, and one college – the Iloilo State College of Fisheries-San Enrique Campus./PN