PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has instructed incoming Education Secretary Juan Edgardo Angara to focus on improving teachers' benefits and elevate the quality of teaching in basic education.

Angara, who leaves the Senate to join the Cabinet, said he would do this by continuing the reforms at the Department of Education (DepEd).

"Those are the instructions of the President: we should take good care of our teachers and ensure that they are focused on teaching," Angara said in Filipino in a television interview.

"They are a bit distracted due to their many tasks. That's why the President's [instructions] were laudable. We must fix their benefits so that they would be inspired and motivated [to teach]," he said.

Asked whether there would be an increase in the teachers' salaries, Angara said, "I'm confident in the next few years, I'm not sure whether this year or next year, there would be increase in the salary of our teachers."

Angara said he would also give priority to improving students' reading comprehension. "Let's go back to basics. It appears that the current quality of education deteriorated when it comes to reading, mathematics and science."

Sen. Grace Poe said Angara's appointment was "truly an inspired choice."

The senator said Angara's "first-hand experience as an educator is exactly what the agency needs to effectively address the current education crisis in the country."

"Though we will sorely miss his legal wisdom and witty quips on the Senate floor, the young Filipino learners will gain a visionary and an advocate for quality education," Poe said.

Angara said he intends to stick with the executive department until the end of President Marcos's term since he no longer plans to run for Congress.

The senator will "graduate" in 2025 as he is on his last term as member of the Senate since his reelection in 2016. A senator is allowed two six-year consecutive terms.

Angara said that he did not want to preempt the President because it is his prerogative to replace his Cabinet secretaries if they no longer enjoy his trust.

Asked to comment on some apprehensions that a former politician would head DepEd, Angara said, "I understand their opinion. And they have a point because they are afraid that if a politician sits at the helm he or she would use the department for politics. ... I would never do that because as the secretary, we are the so-called alter-ego or representative of the President. So, we will no longer run [for public office] because our term at the Senate will end [next year]," he said.

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