Five key officials of the Department of Education have tendered their resignations to allow incoming Secretary Juan Edgardo Angara more leeway in reorganizing the agency.
Undersecretary Michael Poa, also the DepEd’s current spokesperson, said he is among those leaving the department on Friday (July 19), which is also Vice President Sara Duterte’s last day as education secretary.
Also leaving the agency are Undersecretary Nolasco Mempin (Administration), Assistant Secretary Sunshine Fajarda (Office of the Secretary), Assistant Secretary Reynold Munsayac (Procurement), and Assistant Secretary Noel Baluyan (Administration).
“We respect the decision of the DepEd Undersecretaries and Assistant Secretaries who tendered their courtesy resignations ahead of our assumption as Secretary of Education. We eagerly anticipate taking on our new role this Friday. Any appropriate appointments will be announced soon as we intend to hit the ground running and drive immediate progress,” Angara’s office said in a statement.
Poa, who concurrently serves as chief of staff to Duterte, said in a Viber post that their decision to resign is meant to give way for Angara “to choose people that will form part of his team.”
Duterte handed in her “irrevocable” resignation as DepEd secretary and vice chairperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) on June 19.
The Vice President said she prepared a “30-day transition plan” to ensure a proper and orderly turnover at the department. With Rolando Ng III
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline Poa, other DepEd officials resign ahead of Angara assumption
