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FMJ welcomes Angara to ‘WWW, of Cabinet’
By Nidz Godino
“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 good idea of what we think needs to be done,” President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said after oath taking, witnessed by Angara’s mother and sisters former senator Sonny Angara was officially sworn in as 37th secretary of Department of Education (DepEd), vowing that his leadership would be marked by “collaboration” with stakeholders in addressing country’s education crisis.
In statement, DepEd said Angara took his oath before President Marcos at Malacañang on Friday.
The President formally welcomed former senator to what he described as “wild, wild world of Cabinet.”
“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, 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” Angara said.
Angara was also present when Marcos signed New Government Procurement Act on Friday, also in Malacañang. DepEd chief is the principal author of the measure, updates existing procurement law and institutionalizes electronic procurement to ensure better services and remove opportunities for corruption.
Right after his oath-taking, Angara convened DepEd’s top officials in executive committee meeting at the agency’s central office in Pasig, where preparations for opening of School Year 2024-2025 on July 29 were discussed.
Also tackled were “policies and orders that need immediate action,” DepEd said.
In statement, Angara intends to be leader who listens to and works with stakeholders in addressing country’s education crisis.
“I am honored to lead Department of Education, listen to and work with all stakeholders and collaboratively address the challenges in the education sector, together, we will drive progress our education system needs and deserves,” he said.
The former senator took helm from Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio, who resigned as DepEd secretary on Friday.
Aside from Angara, lawyer and professor Jose Mejia also took his oath as member of Judicial and Bar Council representing private sector last Friday. Mejia took his oath before Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, according to Presidential Communications Office.
In chance interview with reporters at Malacañang after his oath-taking, Angara is “confident” that salaries of teachers will significantly increase under Marcos administration.
“Yes, that increase in salary is constant need of our teachers… I know also that Department of Budget and Management (DBM) is studying it… only question of how much and when, but definitely it will increase, I’m confident that during Marcos administration, teachers salary will increase,” Angara said.
In video update uploaded on its Facebook page, Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) said its leaders had 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 salary increase under planned SSL 6…this will have retroactive implementation from January (2024) with total estimated budget of P40 billion,” ACT Teachers Party-list chairman Antonio Tinio said in video.
Tinio, however, said their group does not see supposed salary increase under planned SSL 6 to be substantial.
“Clear message here is, even if there would be 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 P50,000 entry level salary for our teachers shall continue,” Tinio, led ACT delegation during dialogue with DBM officials, said.
Also raised by the group during dialogue was need to double budget for education for 2025 and onwards “to meet international education budget standards of equivalent to six percent of gross domestic product.”
Both ACT and Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) have been pushing for 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.
Groups have also been calling to set minimum salary standards for private school teachers to be at par with those in public schools.
ACT and TDC earlier lamented existing salary scheme – under Republic Act 11466 or SSL 5 enacted during term of former president Rodrigo Duterte has failed to substantially compensate public school teachers, especially those in lower positions.
SSL V raised basic entry-level salaries of public school teachers to P27,000 through phased implementation from 2020 to 2023. SSL V places teachers at Salary Grade 11, lowest among government professionals.
ACT and TDC earlier said they are currently working with several legislators at House of Representatives in drafting bills that would align teachers’ salaries with standards outlined in Magna Carta for Public School Teachers rather than SSL
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