Principals back Oreta for Senate education body

Opposition Sen. Teresa Aquino-Oreta was endorsed yesterday by the Philippine Elementary School Principals Association for the chairmanship of the Senate education committee.

The endorsement is contained in a resolution the association sent to the Senate. The resolution is signed by the group’s 18 directors led by Teresita Arriola.

The principals said they want Oreta to replace the late Sen. Renato Cayetano as education committee chairman because "she has full knowledge of the needs and problems of the educational system in the country."

They said as head of the education panel during the short-lived Estrada administration, the opposition senator "took initiatives to resolve these problems."

"She would be able to continue the pro-education reforms she had started in the previous Congress and undertake more initiatives to improve the welfare of students and teachers in public schools," the principals, in a statement, added.

Besides Oreta, Majority Leader Loren Legarda is interested in the education committee.

On Tuesday, Senate President Pro Tempore Juan Flavier said Legarda has the "right of first refusal" since she belongs to the majority, while Oreta is part of the minority.

The principals’ endorsement of Oreta was received by senators as Senate President Franklin Drilon opened consultations with his majority colleagues on who will take the education committee and the committee on energy, which Cayetano also chaired.

Drilon said the consultations would take him a few days to finish before the majority makes a decision.

According to Flavier, if Legarda takes the education committee, her position of majority leader would most likely go to Sen. Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan, who is assistant majority leader.

For the energy committee, Flavier said the candidates are the two Osmeñas — Sergio III and John Henry. — Jess Diaz