Sara Duterte’s resignation as DepEd chief ‘long overdue’ – Castro

Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Sara Duterte

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte’s decision to resign from her role as Education secretary has been “long overdue” as nothing was done to resolve the education crisis in her two years at the helm, ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro said on Wednesday.

The lawmaker said she hopes Duterte’s resignation will allow President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to appoint a Department of Education (DepEd) chief who will serve the education sector properly.

“Sa wakas ay nag-resign na din sa DepEd si VP Sara, sana ay mas maaga niya ito ginawa para makapaglagay ng isang kalihim ng DepEd na galing talaga sa sektor ng edukasyon at alam ang kanyang ginagawa. Nasayang ang mahugit dalawang taon para ayusin agad ang education crisis sa bansa at benepisyo at sahod ng mga guro at education support personnel,” Castro said in a statement.

“We hope that Pres. Marcos Jr. will immediately accept her resignation and appoint someone who would truly serve the education sector as its secretary,” she added.

Earlier, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) relayed that Duterte has resigned from her posts as Education secretary and vice chairperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac), effective July 19.

“She declined to give a reason why. She will continue to serve as Vice President. We thank her for her service,” the PCO added.

READ: Sara Duterte resigns as DepEd secretary, says Palace

Duterte held a press briefing at the DepEd office to confirm her resignation.

Castro said she hopes Duterte’s resignation from her NTF-Elcac post will also abolish the agency.

The lawmaker also believes this resignation signals a wider rift between the Marcoses and the Dutertes, after months of tension between the two camps.

“In resigning her post from the NTF-Elcac we hope that the red-tagging agency would also be abolished. It is nothing but an apparatus of the state to violate human rights and spread fake news,” Castro said.

“The resignation of VP Duterte from the Marcos Jr. Cabinet also marks the open war between the former allies and the upcoming escalation of hostilities between the two camps,” she added.

Castro has been critical of the Vice President’s term at DepEd.  In May 2023, Castro claimed that Duterte was diverting the public from real education issues after the lawmaker was accused of shifting attention from the communist rebel attacks in Masbate province.

READ: VP Duterte: Hiring 30,000 teachers yearly ‘unrealistic, impossible’

During the budget season in 2023, to craft the 2024 national budget, Castro waged a crusade against Duterte’s confidential funds, which resulted in the removal of the P500 million and P150 million proposed secret funding for the Office of the Vice President and DepEd, respectively.

READ: House gives zero confidential funds to OVP, DepEd, DICT, DFA, DA