MANILA – President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said he will need more time to select the successor of Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio as Department of Education (DepEd) secretary.
According to the Chief Executive, there is the need to be thorough with the screening process as he is still going through the curricula vitae of various potential candidates for the post.
“It turns out it’s harder than I thought because we absolutely have to get it right. So I’m giving myself more time,” Marcos said. “As I told you before, we have to see, really, what the DepEd needs.”
He added: “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, and they are all valid concerns.”
President Marcos further said that the right person for the Education secretary job is someone who has an understanding of being an educator while possessing leadership traits as well.
“But then we also have to find — the same person has to have those qualities that can galvanize this very, very large bureaucracy, which is the DepEd, and to achieve all of those gains, or all of those changes, to make the educational standard better,” he said.
“But then, how do you achieve that? That requires a very good hand on the pillar of the DepEd, who can manage it properly, who understands the bureaucracy, who understands how to use the budget properly, all of these things,” he added.
“Mahirap ang trabaho ng DepEd. That’s why we have to thank Inday Sara for, really, the effort that she put in. There’s a great deal more work to be done, and we’ll find the right person for it,” the President further said.
Two weeks ago Duterte-Carpio announced her resignation as DepEd chief and as vice chairperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), effective July 19.
The Vice President said her resignation as DepEd secretary was not due to weakness but out of concern for teachers and students./PN
