BY ASHZEL HACHERO

EDUCATION Secretary Jesli Lapus yesterday dismissed reports that he is on the way out.

There have been reports that Tessie Aquino-Oreta will be named new education secretary when President Arroyo implements a Cabinet revamp this month.

Oreta, a former senator, lost in the May 2007 midterm elections.

The one-year ban on appointment to government positions of losing candidates will lapse this month.

Lapus, hardly moderating his modesty, said his record speaks for itself. "Would you replace the number one public approval rated agency head?" he said.

The Pulse Asia survey released last month recognized DepEd as one of the top performing government offices.

Lapus said DepEd has received a record positive 61 percent approval rating in Pulse Asia surveys.

Lapus said there was a marked increase in enrollment in pre-school, elementary and secondary schools with the figures nearing the 20-million mark last year.

He also mentioned the Food for School program which he said reduced the malnutrition level in the pre-school and elementary from 21 percent in 2006 to 17 percent last year.

Other successful projects, he said, are the 14,600 new classrooms and 10,600 classrooms repaired in 2007, compared to the usual target of 6,000 classrooms per year.

Lapus said the number of new teacher items reached more than 16,000 in 2007, the highest number in years while the number of principal items opened totaled 3,479 in 2006-2007.

He said the book procurement process was revised, resulting in reduced cost of textbooks by half and it is expected to further go down.

He said the DepEd's five-level procurement program has been cited in international circles including the World Bank as a best practice.

POLITICAL PAYBACK

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) said reports of Oreta's appointment as education secretary is proof of the "shameless politicization of the DepEd under this administration."

"In eight years, Arroyo has appointed four people to the DepEd secretary position. Unfortunately, political payback to the varied personalities and blocs under Malacañang's wing has been the main consideration in these appointments, rather than the best interest of the basic education sector," ACT chair Antonio Tinio said.

Tinio said the revolving door mechanism implemented by the President resulted in the lack of continuity in the leadership of DepEd and has made a negative impact on the meaningful pursuit of reforms in the education sector.

The DepEd-National Employees Union also aired their concern on the Arroyo government's obviously "playing political accommodation" at the expense of the education sector.

TRANSACTIONAL POLITICS

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz said the Cabinet revamp is anything but surprising.

"It's in accordance with the so-called transactional politics. The administration is indebted to those who ran in the senatorial race and lost," Cruz said.

"Team Unity candidates also spent, so these people will have to find a place in the sun. in the government, where there are still some public funds, to be able to get a payback on what they spent in the elections," said the former president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines.

Only Team Unity bets Joker Arroyo, Edgardo Angara and Juan Miguel Zubiri made senator in 2007.