Valenzuela is new CHED commissioner

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos has appointed a new commissioner of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), following the dismissal of a former official for nepotism and grave misconduct in the line of duty.

Commission chairman J. Prospero de Vera III said former director of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) secretariat Ethel Agnes Pascua-Valenzuela is the newest CHED commissioner, after Marcos signed her appointment papers on April 18.

She will serve the unexpired term of Jo Mark Libre until July 21, 2025. The Office of the Ombudsman ordered CHED to dismiss Libre from the service after he was found guilty of recommending the appointment of his relatives to work under his “immediate supervision.”

“With Dr. Valenzuela’s extensive professional experience in higher education, I am confident that she will be contributory in realizing the mandates and education objectives of the Commission particularly in transnational education and internationalization,” De Vera said.

Valenzuela has over two decades of professional experience in higher education as a faculty member and administrator in the University of the Philippines and De La Salle University (DLSU).

Before her appointment, Valenzuela served as UNESCO education commissioner from 2003 to 2010 and as one of the governing board members of UNESCO’s Centre for Lifelong Learning and Institute for Statistics.

Moreover, she has served as the Asean Education Advisor on the Future of Education since April 2023, providing overall leadership in the Asean secretariat’s Future of Education Trend Reports and Policy Briefs covering Educational Transformation, Digitalization, Teacher Education, Education for Sustainable Development and Inclusive Education for Asean 2050.

She brought recognition to the country for being the first Filipina appointed as the director of the SEAMEO secretariat.

“Her work with SEAMEO and background in transnational education will be instrumental in implementing the Transnational Education law, assist increasing the number of Philippine HEIs (higher education institutions) in global rankings, and facilitate the implementation of the vision of President Bongbong Marcos for the country to continue producing world class graduates,” De Vera added.