Bulwagan ng Karunungan, Kagawaran ng Edukasyon, Pasig City
July 4, 2022

Assalamulaikum.

Magandang hapon po sa ating lahat. Maayong hapon sa tanan.

Today, we will honor the men and women of the department of education who stood firm and demonstrated great tenacity and courage to ensure that deped will be able to fulfill its mandate to the filipino children at all times — even at the height of the onslaught of the covid 19 pandemic.

Headed by Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones, DepEd adapted and implemented bold but necessary measures to provide filipino children accessible and quality education — ensuring that learning is unhampered and our learners are not left out — while also ensuring the economic welfare of our teachers and the non-teaching personnel working under the organization.

Secretary Liling is a force. And I am humbled and honored to follow in the footsteps of a much-admired academic, public servant, social activist, and change-maker. I would also like to acknowledge the equally devoted men and women, our undersecretaries and assistant secretaries who supported Ma’am Liling in the last six years. Daghang salamat kaninyo.

When we talk about governance and public service, we talk about dedication, commitment, integrity, and selflessness. Pinakyaw na yata ito lahat ni Secretary Liling. At nagpapasalamat kami na hindi niya ito ipinagdamot sa ating lahat.

Sa kanyang pangunguna, ipinakita ni Secretary Liling kung paano natin mabibigyan ng mas makabuluhan na tulong ang sektor ng edukasyon sa pamamagitan ng pagtuon sa mga isyu at mga problema ng mga kabataan at pagbibigay ng solusyon sa mga ito.

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.

We were all witnesses as DepEd pushed the full implementation of the senior high school program that eventually allowed parents and students to see its significance in providing our graduates with the necessary skills relevant to today’s dynamic workforce.

Thanks to Secretary Liling, thanks to this team — our public school teachers now earn more than their counterparts in the private sector. Indeed, you have broken a glass ceiling in Philippine education history.

With the challenges emanating from the COVID 19 pandemic, Secretary Liling’s light shone the brightest as a leader, an educator, and a Filipina who has a deep concern for the education sector and love of country.

Secretary Liling and the whole DepEd organization never cowered in the face of disapproval, public frustration, and pressure.

When some sectors called for an academic freeze, the response was academic ease. and it was a brilliant, appropriate, and timely response — made with will and resolve, and foresight — that our children’s learning is shielded from the adverse impact of the pandemic.

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. The entire DepEd followed suit.

And as I take on the task of being the next Secretary of the Department of Education, I take inspiration from you — from your courage, dedication, your commitment, your integrity, selflessness, and your grace.

But I will also take on the task with the reminder that we shall continue to find ways to improve basic education in terms of access, equity, quality, resiliency, and governance — to produce learners who can achieve their full potential as individuals who are responsible, skilled, knowledgeable, productive, and determined to achieve their dreams for themselves and for our country.

We look forward to working with you as we take on the task of helping our children become our country’s assets.

Maraming salamat. Mabuhay po tayong lahat.
Ako po si Inday Sara. Mahal natin ang Pilipinas.