Sara Duterte: A failure as DepEd chief? Marcos even ‘asked me to stay’
FEBRUARY 07, 2025Vice President Sara Duterte during her press conference held at the Office of the Vice President central office, Mandaluyong City.INQUIRER PHOTO/LYN RILLON
MANILA, Philippines — If she were truly a failure as education chief, why then did President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ask her to reconsider her resignation?
Vice President Sara Duterte posed this question Wednesday in an interview in The Hague, Netherlands, responding to a remark by Palace press officer Claire Castro that her tenure as head of the Department of Education (DepEd) was “a complete failure.”
READ: Sara Duterte’s DepEd leadership is a ‘complete failure’ – Palace
“I don’t understand where this claim that I was a total failure as Education Secretary is coming from,” Duterte said in Filipino.
She recalled that when she tendered her resignation as DepEd chief on June 19, 2024, the President repeatedly asked her why she was stepping down.
“I told him, I didn’t want to talk about why I was resigning. I mean, do I really need to ask that? Don’t you see what you’re doing to me? I’m not a masochist to just let myself be constantly attacked while working for you,” Duterte pointed out in Filipino.
“And to think that the Department of Education was the one delivering results for the administration. So I just said it—I didn’t want to discuss it. And then he tried to persuade me to stay,” she added, mostly in Filipino.
According to Duterte, Marcos even asked if she wanted another position in his administration.
READ: Duterte blamed for ‘paper, pencil’ PH educ: ‘Worst DepEd sec ever’ – Tinio
She also claimed that Marcos sought her help in the 2025 midterm elections.
“So clearly, all his efforts were to make me reconsider my resignation. He said I could just stay on as DepEd secretary. He asked if I wanted to move to another position and told me to let him know. He even asked if I could help in the 2025 midterm elections?” the vice president said in a mix of Filipino and English.
“Those are not the actions of someone who sees me as a failure. Those are the actions of someone who thinks he needs my work. So I don’t know where they’re coming from when they say I was a failure as Education Secretary,” she added in Filipino.
Earlier on Wednesday, Castro said Duterte’s stint in DepEd had been a failure, stressing that she had the chance to push reforms in the agency.
Castro made the comment in response to Duterte’s earlier claim that the country’s education system remains stuck at a “paper and pencil” level and lags behind other nations. /jpv/abc
