DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / RICHARD A. REYES
Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis-Briones defended her use of a wheelchair whenever she travels by plane when she faced a panel of the Commission on Appointments (CA) on Wednesday, saying the state of her knees has nothing to do with the state of her brain.
Briones said her physical fitness was one of the issues raised against her nomination.
“It’s true that I use a wheelchair whenever I travel by plane. But everybody I’m sure here agrees that there is no correlation between the state of my knees and the state of my (brains) as well as the capacity to analyze challenges whether these be related to education, to finance, to politics and the economy,” she told the CA’s committee on education, culture and sports.
She also pointed out that long before the declaration of human rights in 1948, no less than the wheelchair-bound Apolinario Mabini was appointed to the Cabinet as Secretary of Foreign Affairs.
Briones said Mabini served the country for the rest of his life in a wheelchair.
“I’m sure and I’m confident that if at that time there was a Commission on Appointment, his appointment would have been approved readily wheelchair notwithstanding,” she said.
During the past six months, Briones she made 13 regional visits to disaster-stricken areas and had taken all forms of transportations like helicopters, jeepneys, etc.
She said she also attended a meeting in Jakarta, and the Apec meeting of education misters in Peru.
“That’s all about physical fitness,” Briones added. IDL
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