Marcos support for DepEd to benefit learners, teachers —VP Sara

Vice President Sara Duterte said Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.'s support for the Department of Education(DepEd) would benefit learners and teachers.

"His unremitting support for the reforms introduced by the Department of Education to the education system the Matatag Agenda will benefit not only our learners, but also the teaching and non-teaching personnel," Duterte, who concurrently sits as DepEd Secretary, said in a statement issued after the president's State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday.

During his speech, Marcos said that learning recovery will be the top priority of the education sector to address the learning losses among students brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The President pointed out that alternative delivery modes and blended learning methodologies have been adopted by the DepEd considering the lessons of the pandemic “to ensure unhampered learning”.

He also highlighted the DepEd’s Matatag Agenda which aims to implement resilient reforms in the curriculum, education services, and provision of facilities, learner wellbeing, and teacher support programs.

Duterte congratulated Marcos for his report to the nation and for his "decisive" leadership.

“I am truly grateful for President Ferdinand Marcos and his leadership marked with decisiveness, strength, fortitude, and political will — clearly demonstrated over the past year in office," the Vice President said.

"It is the kind of leadership that inspires us to be more aggressive in delivering what we have promised to the Filipino people," she added.

A Davao native, Duterte said she was also pleased to hear the administration’s development agenda for Mindanao.

“It offers us hope and a deep sense of optimism that the efforts to stamp out terrorism and the peace-building initiatives of the past administrations are strengthened to bring about meaningful development for the region and its people,” she said.

Earlier, Marcos Jr. said Marawi City, which was devastated by a five-month long siege in 2017, “will rise again."

The President further said his administration is working on the financial aid to be distributed to the Marawi siege victims.

According to Ian Cruz's report on "24 Oras," netizens who were watching SONA 2023 online noticed that Marcos missed shaking the hand of the Vice President in the reception line before he delivered his speech.

However, Marcos acknowledged Duterte in his speech and approached her after his address.

GMA Integrated News is trying to get comment from Malacañang and the Vice President.

'Comprehensive'

Reacting to the SONA, Senators Grace Poe and Nancy Binay said what the president delivered to the nation was "comprehensive."

“Para sa akin, komprehensibo ‘yung SONA ng Pangulo. Maraming tinalakay mula sa kalusugan agrikultura, tubig, drugs, sa peace and order pati na rin ang turismo. Kaya maganda. Ang nais lang natin siyempre pati ‘yung presyo ng pagkain,” Poe said in an ambush interview after the speech.

If she will give the president a grade for the content of his speech, Poe said she would give him 97 percent, but she emphasized that the implementation of the promises is a different matter.

Binay likewise “appreciated” that the speech was “very comprehensive.”

“Halos lahat ng mga kailangang banggitin, nabanggit ni presidente and siyempre natutuwa rin tayo ilang beses rin niya nabanggit 'yung tourism sector,” Binay, who chairs the Senate tourism panel, said in a separate ambush interview.

Like Poe, Binay pointed out that the “hard part is the implementation” of all the SONA promises.

Binay refused to give Marcos a grade for his speech, but she agreed with the chief executive on his declaration that the state of the nation is sound.

“I think so. Nandito pa rin tayong lahat and hopefully, tuloy tuloy ‘yung pagbangon natin,” she said.—LDF, GMA Integrated News