‘Worst secretary ever’: Solon lambasts Duterte for complaining on education system

Metro Manila, Philippines - A lawmaker has lambasted Vice President Sara Duterte, who served as education chief, over her complaints against the education system, and described her as the “worst secretary ever.”

House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio’s remark came after Duterte said the education system has been stuck at “paper and pencil” level.

Tinio said the vice president has no right to complain as the Marcos administration and her failures contributed to the education crisis.

"VP Duterte even failed to deliver even a fraction of what was expected of her during her tenure as Education Secretary," Tinio said in a statement on Tuesday, Aug. 19.

"How can she complain about our students lacking access to modern technology when she couldn't even ensure they had basic textbooks and learning materials? Paano niya nasabing kulang tayo sa teknolohiya eh hindi nga niya naibigay ang mga pangunahing pangangailangan ng mga estudyante?" he said.

[Translation: How can she say we lacked technology when she was not able to provide the basic needs of students?]

A report of the Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department showed the DepEd had a low budget utilization under Duterte’s leadership from 2017 to 2024.

The Commission on Audit earlier reported that the Duterte-led DepEd only completed 192 out of the 6,379 target of new classrooms in 2023.

Tinio also noted that only 48 percent of the school-based feeding programs were implemented under Duterte’s leadership.

“Mas inatupag pa niya ang [She focused on the] confidential funds sa [of] Deped sa halip ng [instead of the] learning crisis,” he said.

The alleged confidential fund mismanagement was among the reasons why the House of Representatives impeached Duterte in February.

Tinio urged the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to further increase the budget for education to address the learning crisis.

Under the proposed 2026 budget, the education sector received the highest allocation with P1.224 trillion, complying with the international standard of 4 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

Tinio appealed to further boost the education budget to at least 6 percent of the GDP.

NewsWatch Plus reached out to the Office of the Vice President for a comment.