• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Negros Occidental Third Rep. Jose Francisco Benitez got the endorsement of his colleague in the House of Representatives to become the next secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd).
In a statement, Fifth District Rep, Emilio Bernardino Yulo said that Benitez is “highly qualified because apart from his legislative experience, he was part of the education sector prior to becoming congressman, as the president of the Philippine Women’s University (PWU).”
“These experiences will bode well in managing the education department especially as he now has a grasp of the grassroots that can guide him how to better improve our education sector,” he added.
Before he became a lawmaker in 2019, Benitez served as president of PWU and held teaching positions at the University of Washington-Seattle, and is currently a member of the Second Congressional Commission on Education.
His academic background includes a Doctor of Philosophy in Comparative Literature from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a summa cum laude in Bachelor of Arts from Cornell University.
Yulo said that if Benitez will be appointed as the next DepEd chief, he will have to resign from his post as member of the House of Representatives, and he will be replaced by a caretaker, which will be appointed by Speaker Martin Romualdez.
In previous months, Benitez announced that he will seek reelection for a third and final term during the May 2025 midterm elections.
The influential Philippine Business for Education also included the name of Benitez in the list of four nominees it recommended to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to be the next DepEd secretary.
Meanwhile, President Marcos said Saturday that he needs more time before appointing a new DepEd secretary.
“It turns out it’s harder than I thought because we absolutely have to get it right. So, I’m giving myself more time,” Marcos said in an interview.
He said the new DepEd chief should be able to manage the large bureaucracy and handle the complicated work.
“I’ve gone through so many CVs (curriculum vitae). Marami tayong magagaling (We have a lot of excellent [candidates]). It’s – we have to choose somebody who has an understanding of what is important in terms of being an educator. But then we also have to find – the same person has to have those qualities that can galvanize this very, very large democracy, which is the DepEd, and to achieve all of those gains, or all of those changes, to make the educational standard better,” Marcos said.
He refused to identify the people he is considering for the post, but said he has noted all the qualities raised by different sectors for the next Education secretary.
The President noted that there are calls for the new secretary to be an educator, administrator and a historical professor.
“All of these, and they are all valid concerns. That’s what education is all about,” Marcos said, as he highlighted the need to appoint an educator who can help both the teachers and students.
“Ang lagi naman natin tiningnan ang mga test score natin (What we have always looked at are the test scores). We have to bring up the test scores. You all know that. So, you need an educator who understands how to help the students, how to help the teachers, number one,” he said. | GB with PNA report
