DepEd employees concerned over possible appointment of politician as chief

Employees of the Department of Education are apprehensive about the possible designation of a politician as the new DepEd secretary.

"The DepEd National Employees Union denounces any appointment of politicians," said lawyer Domingo Alidon, DepEd National Employees Union president.

"If Malacañang is really sincere and serious about providing quality education, they should appoint an academician," Alidon said.

He added that DepEd employees are urging Malacañang to seriously consider their apprehension since DepEd is the biggest bureaucracy in government.

The employees union has pressed for the appointment of an education secretary this month, he added.

Sen. Edgardo Angara and former Samar representative Eduardo Nachura are among those being considered for the post, along with Undersecretary Fe Hidalgo, DepEd officer-in-charge.

However, DepEd employees and organizations within the education sector are endorsing Hidalgo.

"Our support for Dr. Hidalgo continues to grow and we are all praying for her permanent appointment," said Sol Matugas, president of the DepEd Association of Directors.

"The league of education associations is behind Dr. Hidalgo. We need someone like her who can inspire our half a million teachers and our leaders in the field to bring genuine reforms in the school and the classroom," Matugas said.

Lawyer Camilo Montesa, DepEd spokesman and assistant secretary for legal affairs, said Hidalgo is interested in the post of secretary, although she has not campaigned for the position.

"Dr. Hidalgo has not spoken about her interest in being education secretary because she simply wants to focus on doing her job right now and she respects the President’s prerogative to appoint anyone as the President sees fit," he said.

"But she is very grateful for the overwhelming support she has been getting. She feels that she is as qualified as the other candidates, having served under nine secretaries in her career in DepEd," he said.

Montesa said what the DepEd needs today is a career executive who knows the education bureaucracy and its programs deep enough to be able to drive reforms and get the Philippine system out of crisis.

"We can’t afford to go back to square one and start new policy initiatives," he said.

"We’ve had four secretaries in the past five years and we’ve never been stable. We need to move on and we strongly believe that Dr. Hidalgo can lead us. We’ve seen the President’s confidence in Dr. Hidalgo when she appointed her as officer-in-charge. We’re hopeful she will be appointed as permanent secretary," Montesa said.

Hidalgo started her career as a classroom teacher and rose through the ranks, becoming assistant secretary and undersecretary for programs and projects.

Among Hidalgo’s supporters are the Association of DepEd Directors, Philippine Association of School Superintendents, Philippine Schools District Supervisors Association, Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines, Philippine Elementary School Principals Association;

Philippine Association of Education Supervisors Inc., Philippine Association of Secondary School Administrators, National Association of Public Secondary School Heads Inc., Reading Association of the Philippines, Metrobank Foundation Network of Outstanding Teachers and Educators Inc.; World Council for Curriculum and Instruction Philippine Chapter, Teachers Organization of the Philippines (Kapisanan ng mga Guro sa Pilipinas) Inc., and the Association of Local Colleges and Universities. — Sandy Araneta