MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday said he hoped to name a new Education secretary by the end of the week following the resignation of Vice President Sara Duterte.

In an interview at the sidelines of the National Employment Summit at the Manila Hotel, Marcos said the government "has to carry-on" despite the departure of Duterte as DepEd chief and also as vice-chairman of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

"The Department of Education is quite possibly, arguably the most important because education is that important. So, no matter the change of leadership in the department, we still have to carry on," he told reporters.

"I would like to be able to announce the appointment of the DepEd Secretary by the end of the week," he added.

The President said he asked "for a lot of names" of candidates for the post and that he was rushing to appoint Duterte's replacement.

"We cannot just leave it like that, of it not having a secretary. That's why I'm rushing everything. I told them to give me a lot of names," he said.

"What do we need to look at, we should look closely at the status of DepEd. What is now required? What else needs to be done? So, what do we need? Do we need an educator? Do we need an administrator? Do we need an accountant? What do we need? And that is what we are trying to determine right now," he added.

It was last June 19, 2024 when Duterte personally went to Malacañang to tender her resignation to Marcos, but declined to cite specific reasons.

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