Former Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Leonor Briones has turned over the leadership of the agency to new DepEd chief Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio on Monday afternoon, July 4.
In a ceremony at the DepEd Central Office in Pasig, Briones handed over to Duterte the official DepEd flag and seal, as well as the Basic Education Development Plan 2030.
TINGNAN: Opisyal nang isinalin ang tungkulin ng Kagawaran ng Edukasyon kay Vice President Sara Duterte, ang bagong kalihim ng kagawaran, mula kay dating Kalihim Leonor Briones.
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— PTVph (@PTVph) July 4, 2022
The two officials arrived together at the event, the first Monday activity of Duterte as vice president.
In her speech, she recognized Briones’ service and her decision on continuing classes amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Ma’am Liling, you have completed your mission, and we are all here today to celebrate the victories that you and the entire Department of Education have collected over the past six years under the Duterte administration,” she said.
“When you said, ‘Education must continue. Education must never stop,’ it was a statement that defined the direction of DepEd under your watch. You soldiered on for the sake of the Filipino children and the entire DepEd followed suit,” she added.
Duterte confirmed that Briones has committed to be her consultant, and admitted being emotional seeing the exiting secretary bidding her goodbye.
“Maybe it is because I feel a special bond with Sec. Briones. Although we have not worked together, but whenever we meet, she was always pleasant to me. She was never condescending with all the achievements in her professional career as compared to me, a very young 44-year-old politician, and she was always generous with her advice,” she said.
Briones bade goodbye to DepEd employees whom she had worked with during the part administration.
“We are not scared, we are not embarrassed, we are turning over to our beloved Secretary of Education, Vice President Sara Duterte, an organization which persevered in spite of COVID-19,” she said in her speech.
Meanwhile, Duterte joined a virtual meet and greet with some private educational institutions, and noted that some private schools nationwide are badly affected by the prevailing pandemic. – Report from Daniel Manalastas-ag
