5 Duterte-appointed DepEd officials submit resignations

Vice President and outgoing DepEd Sec. Sara Duterte. —screengrab from DepEd Philippines Facebook page

MANILA, Philippines — Ahead of the change in leadership at the Department of Education (DepEd) starting on July 19, five officials appointed by outgoing Education Secretary and Vice President Sara Duterte have also tendered their resignations.

One of the five officials, Education Undersecretary and chief of staff Michael Poa, confirmed his departure from the DepEd on Tuesday, along with four others.

They were Nolasco Mempin, undersecretary for administration; Sunshine Fajarda, assistant secretary for the Office of the Secretary; Reynold Munsayac, assistant secretary for procurement; and Noel Baluyan, assistant secretary for administration. With their resignations, the DepEd will be left with 10 undersecretaries and assistant secretaries.

Free hand

“I think it is only appropriate to give the incoming Secretary of Education, Secretary Angara, a free hand to choose the people that will form part of his team,” Poa, who is also the DepEd spokesperson, told reporters.

He and Fajarda were appointed to their positions in the department in May 2023.

Munsayac, on the other hand, served as Duterte’s spokesperson at the Office of the Vice President (OVP) in 2022 before he was appointed education assistant secretary. Mempin and Baluyan are retired military generals.

According to Poa, their resignations will take effect on July 19, the same day as Duterte’s, which she announced on June 19. She did not give a reason for leaving the Cabinet.

Political rift

Her resignation, however, solidified a split between her and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., with whom she allied the 2022 national elections. Cracks first started to appear when House lawmakers stripped her offices—OVP and DepEd—of P650 million in confidential funds in the 2024 national budget due to public criticism of the huge proposed allocations.

Although both Marcos and Duterte maintained an air of civility in public, some members of their respective families did not hold back, with Duterte’s father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, calling the President a drug addict in January. Duterte’s brother, Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte, later urged Mr. Marcos to resign if he did not love the country. In April, first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos publicly called out Duterte for not coming to her husband’s defense.

Duterte will be replaced by Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara in a turnover ceremony scheduled at the DepEd central office in Pasig City on Thursday.

Reacting to the resignations, Angara said that he respected the five officials’ decision to tender their courtesy resignations ahead of his assumption as education secretary.

“We eagerly anticipate taking on our new role this Friday. Any appropriate appointments will be announced soon as we intend to hit the ground running and drive immediate progress,” he said in a statement.