Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte stood firm on Department Order No. 34, on the decision to start School Year 2022-23 in public schools on August 22, while citing that the country is now in a better position to transition to in-person classes.

This came after the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) party-list group called on the vice president to heed the concerns of public school teachers who are still swamped with paperworks to this day.

Under the department order, enrollment will begin on July 25, giving teachers no time to rest and avail of their Proportional Vacation Pay (PVP), or the two-month paid vacation period they receive in lieu of leave benefits.

“Tuloy na po tayo, naprisinta na po ito dun sa unang Cabinet meeting natin. Ito po ‘yung pinakaunang tinanong ng ating Pangulo sa (We will proceed, we already presented during the first Cabinet meeting. This is the first question the President asked from the) Department of Education (DepEd),” she said in an interview outside the San Beda University in Manila.

She added that their presentation to President Marcos about the transition to a five-day face-to-face class is supported by research papers.

DepEd Order No. 34 series of 2022 laid out the calendar year for School Year 2022-2023.

According to the department order, enrollment will begin on July 25, Brigada Eskwela from Aug. 1 to 26, Oplan Balik Eskwela on August 15, start of classes on Aug. 22, and end of classes on July 7, 2023.

The Vice President and education chief cited these three reasons why parents should be comfortable letting students attend in-person classes: the mask mandate, access to vaccine, and availability of Covid-19 medicine.

Duterte argued that the public has been accepting of the country’s mask mandate and they follow basic health protocols.

“Memorize na po nating lahat dahil (We’ve already memorized all because it has been) two years,” she said, referring to the Covid-19 pandemic that started in March 2020.

She also stressed that the Covid-19 vaccine had been readily available, and the country has enough supply that the government continues to call on eligible vaccine recipients to get vaccinated.

Further, Duterte believes that the availability of the Covid—9 medicine, Molnupiravir, and soon an over-the-counter drug, puts the country in a better position to begin its transition to full in-person classes.

“Wala na po tayong aantayin (We are not waiting for anything) with regard to this pandemic dahil ang sinabi po ng (because what the) public health experts noon (said before is) we need the vaccine. The vaccine is already here. Ang sabi nila (They said) we need the gamot (medicine), the medicine is already here,” she said.