BY JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR and ASHZEL HACHERO
PRESUMPTIVE vice president Sara Duterte-Carpio yesterday said she accepted the education portfolio instead of pursuing the position of defense secretary to prevent scenarios or situations that may lead to questions about her loyalty to the country, or to a break of her UniTeam with presumptive president Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
Marcos announced her nomination to the Department of Education (DepEd) late Wednesday.
It was earlier reported that the presidential daughter wanted to be secretary of the Department of Defense. Duterte-Carpio, a Philippine Army reservist with the rank of colonel, said she has changed her mind.
“Before the campaign, we talked about the Department of National Defense. But seeing the way things are at the moment, I expect that people who want to see the new administration to fail will fabricate intrigues about my loyalty and the DND position to break the UniTeam,” she said.
Presidential aspirant Leody de Guzman was quoted in Twitter as saying the defense portfolio was not given to Duterte-Carpio “dahil delikado para sa mga Marcos na mahawakan ni Duterte ang defense (Because it is dangerous for the Marcoses if Duterte gets hold of the defense).”
Prior to the elections, there were rumors that Duterte-Carpio agreed to run for vice president instead of president, despite leading electoral surveys then, because she can eventually replace Marcos and assume the presidency if something happens.
Vice presidential aspirant Walden Bello expressed concern that her appointment to the DepEd could lead to militarization of education of the youth because of her proposal to revive military training for students through the Reserved Officer Training Corp (ROTC).
There are also those who expressed fear that Duterte-Carpio was being placed at the DepEd as part of efforts to revise the country’s history, particularly the martial law years under the dictatorship of Marcos’ father, Ferdinand.
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) questioned Duterte-Carpio’s push for the ROTC, saying it does not address the current crisis besetting the education sector.
“What we need is a leadership that recognizes the learning crisis, the desperate quality of education, the chronically underpaid status of teachers, and the degeneration of the country’s sense of history and grasp of truth,” said ACT secretary general Raymond Basilio.
Duterte-Carpio, in a statement yesterday, thanked Marcos for his confidence in her and for offering the post of education secretary. She said she asked Marcos how she could best help the country and “it was decided that I would work on producing skilled learners with the mindset to realize their full potential as individuals.”
She said the country also needs a future generation of patriotic Filipinos that advocate peace and discipline in their respective communities.
Marcos’ spokesman Vic Rodriguez, said the people should give Duterte-Carpio a chance to prove her competence as education secretary.
He said Duterte-Carpio enjoys the trust and support of more than 31 million people, a lawyer, and a mother who has young children and knows the importance of education.
The University of the Philippines College of Education Student Council, in its Facebook post, raised concerns about Duterte-Carpio’s stand that she will push for mandatory military training which they said is not the solution to the current crisis in education.
It added that they will never forget the (elder) “Marcos regime’s horrors… not while the Marcoses continue to peddle lies in an attempt to whitewash and change history.”
A Facebook post asked how Duterte-Carpio would handle historians from the University of the Philippines’ Department of History if they protest.
Outgoing Education Secretary Leonor Briones said she and her team are ready to work with Duterte-Carpio.
Briones said they will also turn over to Duterte-Carpio’s transition team the DepEd’s Basic Education Plan 2030, the department’s medium-term plan to address the problems plaguing the basic education sector as well as measures on how to resolve it.
“This is the first time that an outgoing administration will leave behind a medium-term plan,” she said.
Among the immediate problems Duterte-Carpio will confront at DepEd is the transition from the blended learning mode to face-to-face classes amid the decline in COVID-19 cases.
There is also the perennial problem of shortage of classrooms and other tools as well as the appeal of teachers for salary increase. Likewise, she needs to address the laggard ranking of Filipino students in math and science compared to other countries as shown by the study conducted by the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study.
President Duterte tapped his Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin and members of his economic Cabinet cluster to oversee the transition of power from his administration to the next leaders of government.
Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea chairs the Presidential Transition Committee which will be composed of Locsin, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, acting Budget Secretary Tina Rose Canda and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua.
