Sara reaches out to OVP, DepEd for transition

MANILA, Philippines — Vice president-elect Sara Duterte-Carpio has formally reached out to the offices of Vice President Leni Robredo and Education Secretary Leonor Briones to discuss the transition for the incoming administration.

Duterte-Carpio’s spokesperson, Liloan Mayor Christina Frasco, told reporters yesterday that these initiatives were done “with the view to ensuring a smooth, orderly and comprehensive transition.”

“As the transition process is still ongoing, entailing detailed discussions on all aspects of the workings of the OVP (Office of the Vice President) and the DepEd (Department of Education), information on the completion of this process will be released once available,” she added.

Duterte-Carpio, who was officially proclaimed as vice president-elect last Wednesday, earlier accepted the offer of her running mate, president-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr., for her to be the DepEd secretary.

Robredo’s office has confirmed receiving the letter from the vice president-elect, but has yet to issue a statement on the matter. The Vice President is expected to arrive from her trip to New York today.

In an earlier statement, Robredo’s spokesman Barry Gutierrez expressed their readiness to work with the next administration for an orderly transition.

“The OVP as an office is ready and continues to prepare for the transition. We will work with whoever is declared as the next vice president to make the transition as smooth and as easy as possible,” Gutierrez said in Filipino during an interview with One PH’s “Sa Totoo Lang” on May 12.

Briones, likewise, welcomed the announcement that Duterte-Carpio will be her successor in the DepEd.

“I and the DepEd family are ready to work with her team for the orderly transition of DepEd leadership. We will turn over the Basic Education Plan 2030, the first time that an outgoing administration will leave behind a medium-term plan. We are confident that DepEd will be in able hands and anticipate a continuity,” she said last May 11.

PCOO ready

Meanwhile in Malacañang, the transition team of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) has invited incoming press secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles to a meeting to ensure a proper turnover of the agency.

PCOO Undersecretary Kristian Ablan said the transition team is ready to provide the incoming administration with the information and assistance it needs.

“(PCOO) Secretary Martin (Andanar) has activated the transition team. I am included in that. And we have sent fillers to incoming PCOO secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles and we hope to meet them soon, so that there is a proper turnover between outgoing secretary Andanar and incoming secretary Cruz-Angeles,” Ablan said at a press briefing last Friday.

“Secretary Andanar has instructed me to provide a proper and full turnover to the incoming secretary, not unlike what we experienced six years ago,” he added.

Ablan said he was not privy on whether or not the camp of Cruz-Angeles has responded to the transition team’s invitation. He vowed to inform members of the media on when the transition meeting would take place. “But we foresee it to be in the coming days,” he said.

Cruz-Angeles, a lawyer, vlogger and radio commentator, has accepted the offer of Marcos Jr. to lead the PCOO, the lead communication arm of the government. Her appointment will mark her return to the PCOO, where she served as a social media strategist between 2017 and 2018.

Andanar previously said he has asked all agencies attached to the PCOO to come up with reports explaining the projects of the Duterte administration.

“Give them (incoming administration) the reason why we have engaged or we have implemented these projects so that the team of the presumptive president will understand why we undertook it, with the hope that the projects will continue for the betterment of PCOO and the Office of the Presidential Spokesperson,” Andanar said at a press briefing last Tuesday. –  Alexis Romero