DepEd's Briones looking forward to working on transition with Sara

Education Secretary Leonor Briones said she and the Department of Education were looking forward to working for a smooth transition at the department with leading vice presidential candidate Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.

Briones issued the statement after leading presidential candidate former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced on Wednesday that Duterte has agreed to take the post as education secretary.

“I welcome the announcement by Presidential frontrunner Bongbong Marcos that incoming Vice President Sara Duterte will concurrently serve as Department of Education Secretary,” Briones said.

“I and the DepEd family are ready to work with her team for the orderly transition of DepEd leadership,” she added.

Briones said the DepEd would be in "able hands” under Duterte.

“We will turn over the Basic Education Plan 2030, the first time that an outgoing administration will leave behind a medium-term plan. We are confident that DepEd will be in able hands and anticipate a continuity,” Briones said.

On Twitter, vice presidential candidate Prof. Walden Bello indicated that he was worried over Duterte becoming the education secretary. 

"Given her previous comments about the so-called value of subjecting youth to mandatory military training, there's a danger she could turn DepEd into a gigantic Philippine MIlitary Academy," Bello said on Twitter.

In a statement, College Editors' Guild of the Philippines deputy secretary general Regina Tolentino said Duterte would only further put the education system in chaos.

"Like father, like daughter—Sara will surely be an education predator of her own with her history of violence, abuse, and impunity. Someone like her is never qualified to lead and represent the education sector," Tolentino said.

"We urge campus journalists and the youth to condemn this supposed appointment. We cannot afford to be under a Duterte learning system that killed lives and dreams again," she added. —Mel Matthew Doctor and Sundy Locus/NB, GMA News