"We have to carry on."

President Marcos said he would appoint a new secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd) by the end of the week, saying the position vacated by Vice President Sara Duterte could not be left empty for so long.

Marcos said this following the surprise resignation of the Vice President from all her Cabinet posts last week.

In an interview with reporters in Manila on Thursday, June 27, the President cited the urgency in naming Duterte's successor in DepEd as the department is the most important government agency.

"We have to carry on. The Department of Education is quite possibly, arguably, the most important department because education is that important," he said.

"I would like to be able to announce the appointment of the new DepEd secretary by the end of the week," he added.

While Vice President Duterte's resignation takes effect on July 19, President Marcos said he cannot leave the position vacant for long.

"We cannot leave it open. Importante ang trabaho nila, eh (Their work is too important)," he said.

"We cannot just leave it like that na nakatiwangwang doon sa... na walang secretary (hanging and without a secretary)," he added.

According to Marcos, he has been asking for candidates for the next DepEd secretary, as well as what the department really needed.

"Ano'ng gusto natin (What do we want)? What do we need? Tingnan natin nang mabuti ulit (Let's take another look), where is the status of the DepEd. What is now required? Ano pa ba ang kailangan gawin (What else do we need to do)?" he said.

"Do we need an educator? Do we need an administrator? Do we need an accountant? What do we need?  And that is what we are trying to determine right now," he added.

Vice President Duterte resigned from her Cabinet posts on June 19. She did not give any reason for her resignation.

In his interview on Thursday, President Marcos said the Vice President did not want to talk about it and he did not press on the matter.

"She didn’t give any reasons. I asked her, are there any particular reasons why she had chosen to resign from the Department of Education and the NTF-ELCAC, and she said, ‘'Wag na lang natin pag-usapan (Let's just not talk about it).’ So I did not force the issue," he said.