Sonny Angara open to be the next DepEd secretary

Senator Sonny Angara on Monday said he is open to be the next secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd) if President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. would appoint him to the position.

"Opo. Open naman ho tayo kung sakaling pinagkatiwalaan (I'm open in case I will be entrusted with it)," Angara said in an ambush interview on the sidelines of the celebration of the Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day in Baler, Aurora.

If Marcos would make a formal offer, Angara said, "Baka imposibleing tanggihan 'yun (That offer would be impossible to reject)"

"Let's see if the president needs us, and you know, we'd like to help him also. We're helping him in the Senate. So, if we can help him in other ways, why not?" he added.

However, Angara said there were no offers yet from Malacañang.

"Wala pa pong alok na maging kalihim po tayo ng edukasyon. Siguro kailangan ni Pangulong Bongbong ng oras tulad ng sinabi niya, para makapagpili siya ng nababagay at napupusuan niya para sa posisyon," he said.

(There were no offers yet for me to sit as Education secretary. Maybe, the President needs more time, like what he said, to choose the right person for the position.)

Angara's name was floated to be the next DepEd secretary last week. Some of his fellow senators, including Senate President Francis "Chiz" Escudero, even vouched for him.

While it is still "premature and improper" for him to comment about reforms that he will introduce if he will be appointed to the post, Angara said the next DepEd chief should focus on the quality of education and the "resource gaps" such as the shortage of classrooms and textbooks.

Angara is one of the commissioners in the Second Congressional Commission on Education.

The DepEd chief post became up for grabs after the resignation of Vice President Sara Duterte from the Cabinet. Aside from DepEd secretary, Duterte also resigned as vice chairperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). —KBK, GMA Integrated News