Marcos welcomes Angara to ‘wild, wild world of Cabinet’

MANILA, Philippines — Former senator Sonny Angara was officially sworn in as the 37th secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd), vowing that his leadership would be marked by “collaboration” with stakeholders in addressing the country’s education crisis.

In a statement, the DepEd said Angara took his oath before President Marcos at Malacañang on Friday.

The President formally welcomed the former senator to what he described as the “wild, wild world of the Cabinet.”

“We are looking forward to many good things to come from this appointment. We have had some discussions before he took his oath to give ourselves a good idea of what we think needs to be done,” Marcos said after the oath taking, which was witnessed by Angara’s mother and sisters.
“And I know that Sonny knows what is important and I know that he knows how to get these things done and so I’m very, very optimistic for DepEd,” he added.

“I am extremely grateful to His Excellency, the President, for entrusting me to lead such an important department,” Angara said.

“I know how much he values education, much like every Filipino family. I look forward to working closely with him to pursue immediate reforms in our educational system for the benefit of our young learners and future generations,” he added.

Angara was also present when Marcos signed the New Government Procurement Act on Friday, also in Malacañang. The DepEd chief is the principal author of the measure, which updates the existing procurement law and institutionalizes electronic procurement to ensure better services and remove opportunities for corruption.

Right after his oath-taking, Angara convened the DepEd’s top officials in an executive committee meeting at the agency’s central office in Pasig, where preparations for the opening of School Year 2024-2025 on July 29 were discussed.

Also tackled were “policies and orders that need immediate action,” the DepEd said.

In a statement, Angara said he intends to be a leader who listens to and works with stakeholders in addressing the country’s education crisis.

“I am honored to lead the Department of Education, listen to and work with all stakeholders and collaboratively address the challenges in the education sector,” he said.

“Together, we will drive the progress our education system needs and deserves,” Angara added.

The former senator took the helm from Vice President Sara Duterte, who resigned as DepEd secretary on Friday.

Aside from Angara, lawyer and professor Jose Mejia also took his oath as member of the Judicial and Bar Council representing the private sector last Friday. Mejia took his oath before Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, according to the Presidential Communications Office.

Higher pay for teachers

In a chance interview with reporters at Malacañang after his oath-taking, Angara said he is “confident” that the salaries of teachers will significantly increase under the Marcos administration.

“Yes, that (increase in salary) is the constant need of our teachers. I know also that the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) is studying (it). It is only a question of how much and when, but definitely it will increase,” Angara said.

“I’m confident that during the Marcos administration, (teachers) salary will increase,” Angara added.

In a video update uploaded on its Facebook page on Friday, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) said its leaders had a dialogue with Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman on Thursday, wherein the latter said there would be another round of salary increase for government workers, including public school teachers, under Salary Standardization Law (SSL) 6.

“There would be a salary increase under the planned SSL 6. This will have a retroactive implementation from January (2024) with a total estimated budget of P40 billion,” ACT Teachers Party-list chairman Antonio Tinio said in the video.

Tinio, however, said their group does not see the supposed salary increase under the planned SSL 6 to be substantial.

“The clear message here is, even if there would be an SSL 6, it still cannot meet what we have been calling for: P50,000 entry level salary for Teacher 1 and P33,000 for Salary Grade 1 (education employees). So, our fight for the P50,000 entry level salary for our teachers shall continue,” Tinio, who led the ACT delegation during the dialogue with the DBM officials, said.

Also raised by the group during the dialogue was the need to double the budget for education for 2025 and onwards “to meet the international education budget standards of equivalent to six percent of the gross domestic product.”

Both the ACT and the Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) have been pushing for the P50,000 entry-level salary for teachers; P33,000 monthly salary for Salary Grade I education employees and P30,000 monthly salary (Salary Grade 16) for those under Instructor 1 classification.

The groups have also been calling to set minimum salary standards for private school teachers to be at par with those in public schools.

The ACT and TDC earlier lamented that the existing salary scheme – under Republic Act 11466 or SSL 5 enacted during the term of former president Rodrigo Duterte – has failed to substantially compensate public school teachers, especially those in lower positions.

The SSL V raised the basic entry-level salaries of public school teachers to P27,000 through phased implementation from 2020 to 2023. The SSL V places teachers at Salary Grade 11, the lowest among government professionals.

The ACT and TDC earlier said they are currently working with several legislators at the House of Representatives in drafting bills that would align teachers’ salaries with the standards outlined in the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers rather than the SSL. — Alexis Romero