Why VP Sara Duterte can make a good Secretary of Education

Eleven days have passed since the day of the national elections. It is only this year that the elections have been held with little delay and a few glitches. Though there are scions of political dynasties that have cast themselves into the coliseum that is politics, there are some who have won a seat and also some who have lost in their bid to dominate their respective territories.

At this juncture, I would like to extend my congratulations to our incoming president Ferdinand “Bongbong” Romualdez Marcos, Jr. (colloquially known as BBM) and to our incoming vice president Sara Zimmerman Duterte-Carpio (lovingly nicknamed Inday Sara and the current mayor of Davao City)!

For this column and throughout all my discourse about our new top honchos, whom I have happened to vote for, I prefer not to use the term presumptive since it reeks of negativity, though there are many mainstream media outfits that use such a term and they are so idiotic that they never bother to distinguish synonyms according to their degrees of intensity (attention, Merriam-Webster, for you must educate these indolent and insipid dilawan media practitioners)!

Though both of our newly elected leaders have been veteran political leaders in their own right, they have exuded true leadership that needs no fanfare or any other kind of promotion. Moreover, they are the type of public servants who deflect public criticism and ornery cuss from their detractors through genuine service. Though both their fathers have been pilloried (albeit figuratively and emotionally), I still acknowledge their immense contributions to the development of our beloved Philippines, especially in terms of reforms in education.

When incoming President Marcos announced that he would be appointing incoming VP Duterte-Carpio the next secretary of the Department of Education, I was quite elated because for the first time, the vice president known for being a feisty chief executive who takes up the cudgels for the oppressed would finally be in a concurrent capacity as the education honcho. Frankly, VP Duterte-Carpio would be a breath of fresh air as she succeeds the polarizing and controversial Leonor Magtolis-Briones. Despite the brickbats thrown at her by her critics.

These are my top ten reasons why Inday Sara would make a very good education secretary, notwithstanding her being a non-teacher:
1) INDAY SARA IS A NO-NONSENSE CHIEF EXECUTIVE. My stepfather, a Davao-raised entrepreneur and insurance professional, has told me time and again that Mayor Sara means business. She sees to it that all Davao citizens benefit from the city’s projects and programs, especially in terms of the COVID-19 response.
2) SHE TAKES UP THE CUDGELS FOR HER CONSTITUENTS. I remember the time when then-mayor Sara Duterte punched an abusive sheriff right smack in the face for forcibly evicting squatters without her interference. Inday Sara never shirks her responsibilities, especially as far as disaster response is concerned.
3) PRINCIPLES ARE INDAY SARA’S CUP OF TEA. An apple never falls far from the tree, as the aphorism goes. Just like her father, Inday Sara never bends her principles to suit her caprices and desires. There was one time when she was apprehended for going beyond the speed limit. Instead of huffing and puffing herself up, Inday Sara accepted her mistake and paid the fine for the traffic violation she committed.
4) INDAY SARA FIGHTS FOR WHAT IS RIGHT. She does. Enough said.
5) OUR INCOMING DEPED SECRETARY IS AN OPEN-MINDED LEADER AND FAST LEARNER. Inday Sara herself admitted that she is flattered by the trust given in her by incoming president Bongbong Marcos. She has also said that she needs to learn more through observation and consultation with experts. Such is the true essence of a leader (and not just a DepEd secretary).
6) INDAY SARA NEVER THROWS SHADE AT HER DETRACTORS. When reelected senator Ana Theresia “Risa” Hontiveros-Baraquel questioned Inday Sara about her competencies, our incoming vice president took the snide, condescending remark with a grain of salt instead of going ballistic.
7) MODESTY, NOT PUBLICITY, IS THE NAME OF THE GAME. I have never heard of any instance when Inday Sara blew her own trumpet just to impress the populace. This is what has struck me the most about her.
8) INDAY SARA IS WELL-VERSED IN GOVERNANCE. She has been a government official and leader for more than ten years now, so such warrants her qualification to run DepEd with reform and collaboration in mind.
9) INDAY SARA HAS WISDOM, EXPERIENCE, AND COMMON SENSE. Isn’t this obvious? Inday Sara speaks from experience and from the heart without being maudlin or preachy. This is what I also like about our beloved Inday Sara.
10) INDAY SARA IS AN IDEAL LEADER AND TEAM PLAYER, NOT A REMOTE-CONTROL OR BIG-BROTHER TYPE OF BOSS. Isn’t this obvious? Inday Sara never steals others’ thunder, instead crediting the success of Davao City to its citizens (including the officials).
Now, ladies and gentlemen, let us all welcome Inday Sara Duterte-Carpio, a reform-minded, proactive, and humble leader in her own right! She will surely steer our educational system to the right path and with panache!


GUESS WHAT, GUESS WHO!
GUESS WHAT: Issuing bouncing checks and bamboozling trusting clients are the activities of this Manila-based catering business. According to my source, an entrepreneur who is into the events business, s/he was supposed to talk to the owner with regard to the check that the latter issued to the former. However, my source discovered that s/he was blocked on Facebook. Hence, s/he filed a case against the catering business owner. Alas, the offending party was also the subject of a manhunt by many other disgruntled clients, many of them couples who were about to marry. Sacre bleu, mon dieu!

What are the lessons of the story? Never ever forget to check your funds. If you can pay in cash, do so. Be honest and forthright with your clients. Avoid stirring the hornet’s nest through your devious and Oliver Twist-like ways, most especially in business.

GUESS WHO: Who is this dean of the college of education of a well-known higher education institution who is known for being paasa and for reneging on his/her promise to applicants? My source, who is a teacher who has applied to the college of education and was previously a teacher at the HEI (but was one of those not given teaching loads due to the influx of senior high school students some five years ago), was at first impressed by the cordial treatment of this young dean but was eventually aghast upon learning that there was no opening at all. As a result, my source vowed never to cross paths with the unprofessional, smug young college dean. Que horror, sinverguenza!

What are the lessons of the story? Be honest with your applicants. Never leave them hanging by not replying to their emails. Do not use your lofty position to block those who only aspire to work with you again.


If you have suggestions in terms of the education-related topics that you want me to feature, please feel free to send me an email to edteo.ramos@yahoo.com or to coachjet.inspirations@gmail.com and I will reply to you as soon as I receive your email. You may also message me on Facebook through my new and publicly official account: CoachJet Ramos. You may also view my inspirational videos through my official YouTube account (my comeback will be in June): Coach Jet’s Weekday Inspirations.