LEADING vice-presidential bet Sara Duterte-Carpio will be appointed Education secretary in a Marcos Cabinet.
“The incoming vice-president has agreed to take the Department of Education,” her running mate Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr., who is headed for a landslide presidential victory, told a news briefing on Wednesday night.
Ms. Duterte last year said she wanted to become Defense chief.
The Education secretary is expected to play a crucial role in improving the country’s coronavirus pandemic-hit school system.
The Philippines was among the last two countries that reopened schools during the pandemic, according to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).
The impact of prolonged school closures on children’s future productivity has resulted in the “most serious education crisis in the last 100 years,” according to the World Bank.
Victims of the martial rule of Mr. Marcos’ late father have raised concerns about efforts to revise the country’s history regarding martial law.
Legislators under the administration of Ms. Carpio’s father had sought to review the status of martial law education in the country.
Mr. Marcos has kept a wide lead in the initial tally of the Commission on Elections. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza