HOUSE Ways and Means Chair Joey Sarte Salceda (Albay, 2nd district) recommends Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Chairperson Prospero de Vera and Synergeia Foundation head Milwida “Nene” Guevara as possible candidates for Secretary of Education.
“I have two names in mind for Secretary: Popoy de Vera and Nene Guevara. Few have ever had an impact on the education sector as large as the impact these two people have had on the sector.”
Salceda said that De Vera’s push for funding for community colleges under the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education (UAQTE) program “helped poor and underserved communities produce more college graduates than ever before.”
UAQTE, or the Free College Tuition Law, was principally authored by Salceda.
“That changed the landscape for basic education because most community colleges produce teachers.”
“Chair Popoy has also streamlined linkages between DepEd and CHED in offering basic education programs.”
“We also worked together in keeping proprietary private schools alive during the pandemic. As many as 140,000 basic education students in private colleges for low-income communities would have been kicked out of the system without our tax reduction policies and the subsidies we pushed for.”
Salceda also said that Guevara is “responsible for highlighting the structural defects of the education system and what needs to be done.”
“No one has been earlier and more consistent about the longstanding issues affecting basic education. It’s Nene Guevara,” Salceda added.
“Synergeia Foundation has also been the loudest about convening EDCOM II. Before our PISA results were a problem, Nene Guevara has already been pointing out the issues underlying basic education.”
Salceda says that “the post is too important to be left vacant for long.”
“It will be wise of PBBM to choose from these two. They’re the strongest hands in education.” Salceda said.
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