Quisumbing: I would have quit

Former Education Secretary Lourdes Quisumbing said yesterday she would have offered to resign had the allegations of the luxury car anomaly taken place during her watch.

At Malacañang, President Estrada said he does not see the need for Education Secretary Andrew Gonzalez to resign because of his purchase of luxury vehicles using the P12-million donation of the Land Bank of the Philippines.

During the breakfast forum of the Greenhills Walking Club Inc. at the Ristorante La Dolce Fontana in Greenhills, San Juan, Quisumbing, who pressed for the institutionalization of values education, said

she offered to resign twice during her stint at the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS).

"The first time, there were allegations against DECS, I offered to resign but I was asked to remain. The second time, I just resigned, period," she said.

Sen. Tessie Aquino-Oreta and Quezon City Rep. Dante Liban, heads of the education committee in their respective chamber, told the same forum that Gonzalez should have offered to resign out of delicadeza.

Oreta and Liban said that a strong sense of delicadeza should prevail among those in government service, and this sense should compel officials like Gonzalez to resign even at the slightest hint of irregularity.

On the other hand, Sen. Loren Legarda said at the same forum that Gonzalez should wait for the decision of the Office of the Ombudsman before deciding on what to do.

"I also believe in delicadeza among government officials but I also believe in due process. Since the issue is now before the Ombudsman, Brother Andrew should wait for the decision of the Ombudsman before deciding whether to resign or not," she said.

Oreta blamed the centralized administration for the corruption at DECS.

"When all decisions covering even the smallest public schools are made by only a few men at the central office of DECS, corruption is bound to happen," Oreta said.

She said she would press for the decentralization of decision-making and budgeting.

Meanwhile, Legarda and Oreta called for a higher education budget, believing this could help uplift the economic condition of the poor.

"Only education can release the poor people from the shackle of poverty," Legarda said.

She said the government could ask foreign creditors for a condonation of the country’s debt so that it could realign portions of the national budget for education.

"The government could make a request or an appeal to the creditors to condone the payment for debt interest so we can use the money to buy textbooks, classrooms and desks, instead," Legarda said.

This scheme has actually been recommended by the Educational Commission (EdCom) in 1991.

"It is not a new law," Legarda said. "It was a recommendation of EdCom and I just wonder why the government has not adopted it."

Education statistics showed that public elementary and high schools need about 2.7 million desks, 29,000 classrooms, 21,000 teachers and P7 billion worth of textbooks.

Oreta echoed Legarda’s statement, adding that the government should not have second thoughts in investing in education.

Oreta also urged DECS to be more "creative" in getting funds.

However, she said graft and corruption should be stopped at the education department.

"There should be transparency in everything that happens at DECS. Every single centavo allocated for education should be spent accordingly. Otherwise, education will continue to deteriorate," she said. – Efren Danao, Marichu Villanueva, Sheila Crisostomo