CABANATUAN CITY—A Department of Technical Education and Skills Development?
It’s now in the works, according to a top-ranking official of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, who said the move—a priority legislative measure of the Duterte administration—carries the support of several congressmen and senators.
Lawyer Diosdado Padilla, Tesda deputy director general for communities and local government unit services, said a draft of the proposed DTESD has been hammered out by a technical working group of the agency.
“Many legislators have vowed to sponsor the bill once it reaches the Senate and the House of Representatives, and I hope it will be passed,” he said.
Padilla, who is from Nueva Ecija like his younger sister, Local Government Undersecretary Emily Padilla, said Tesda, which used to be the National Manpower Youth Council, would be better off as a department “to ensure swift delivery of its frontline services.”
As a department, he said Tesda would be managed by a secretary, unlike the present agency where its policy-making body is composed of several directors.
“Right now, Tesda’s services are being slowed down because we have 20 who comprise the board of directors, who make policy directions,” he said.
Padilla added that Tesda director general Guiling Mamondiong will exert all-out effort to pursue the proposal. “Hopefully, in two years we can become a department,” he added.