2 education execs quit

MANILA, Philippines — Two officials in charge of the Department of Education (DepEd)’s administration strand have resigned from their posts.

DepEd Undersecretary for administration Kristian Ablan confirmed to The STAR that he has tendered his resignation.

His Facebook profile now shows that he served as DepEd undersecretary from Aug. 1, 2022 to April 30, 2023. Ablan has yet to respond to inquiries regarding the reason for his resignation.

Meanwhile, sources also confirmed that Assistant Secretary for administration Christopher Lawrence Arnuco also resigned from his post.

DepEd spokesman Michael Poa, who now serves as chief of staff of Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte, has yet to comment on the resignations.

The agency’s administrative strand has been at the center of some issues that recently hounded the DepEd, including the procurement of “slow and overpriced” laptops during the previous administration.

Ablan’s predecessor, former undersecretary for administration Alain del Pascua, was among those recommended by the Senate to be charged with graft over the laptop procurement.

Last February, the DepEd also confirmed that the laptops being sold in a surplus store in Cebu, although not among those procured by the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management, were part of the DepEd Computerization Program, a project under the administrative strand.

In the same statement, the DepEd also said it “found another case of the failure on the part of a service provider to comply with its contract – since the year 2021.”

The agency did not provide details, but a Rappler report released this week said that a logistics firm has failed to comply with its contract to deliver laptops for public schools.

Ablan and Arnuco were not part of these transactions as these happened during the previous administration.

In a department order on Jan. 9, Duterte revised the designations of undersecretaries and established a separate strand for procurement, which used to be under the administration strand.

The administration strand, then under Ablan and Arnuco, was tasked to focus on “strengthening the administrative services of the DepEd to ensure that the entire organization is effectively and efficiently supported.”

Under the administrative strand were the agency’s Administrative Service, Planning Service, Information and Communications Technology Service and Teacher Camps in Baguio and Bagabag, Nueva Vizcaya.

During the agency’s National Planning Conference in November, Ablan bared some of the priorities of the administration strand, including the development of a National Education Portal and the continued push for the computerization program.

Ablan’s latest Facebook posts show photos with staff of various DepEd offices, including those under the administration strand.