ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Angara vows integrity, focus on education amid DepEd official's link to flood control fiasco

Angara vows integrity, focus on education amid DepEd official's link to flood control fiasco

Published Sep 25, 2025 05:12 pm
DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara vows integrity and focus on education as Undersecretary Trygve Olaivar takes a voluntary leave amid the flood control controversy. (DepEd file photo)
DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara vows integrity and focus on education as Undersecretary Trygve Olaivar takes a voluntary leave amid the flood control controversy. (DepEd file photo)
Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sonny Angara assured the public that the agency remains committed to integrity and quality education, even as Undersecretary Trygve L. Olaivar took a voluntary leave of absence after being linked to alleged irregularities in flood control projects.
In a statement on Thursday, September 25, Angara stressed that DepEd will not be derailed from its core mission despite the controversy.
“As Secretary of Education, I assure the public that the Department of Education upholds the highest standards of integrity in all our work,” Angara said.
He confirmed that Olaivar requested to go on leave to allow due process to proceed without causing distractions to the department.
“Undersecretary Trygve L. Olaivar has taken a voluntary leave of absence to allow due process to take its course without distraction to the Department,” Angara explained.
READ: 
https://mb.com.ph/2025/09/25/official-linked-to-flood-control-mess-takes-voluntary-leave-deped
DepEd’s mission continues
The Education chief emphasized that the agency’s foremost duty remains delivering quality education to every Filipino learner, noting that this guiding principle will not change regardless of ongoing issues.
“DepEd remains firmly focused on its foremost duty: delivering quality education to every Filipino learner,” Angara said. “That mission continues to guide all that we do.”
Olaivar denies allegations, vows cooperation
Earlier, Olaivar issued his own statement after Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Undersecretary Bernardo Abesamis mentioned his name during a Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on alleged flood control anomalies.
“I deny the allegations made and want to state clearly that I welcome any investigation regarding this matter,” Olaivar said.
The Senate inquiry is looking into reports of irregularities in DPWH flood control projects, which allegedly involve certain government officials and private contractors.
While no formal charges have been filed against Olaivar, his name surfaced during the discussions, prompting him to temporarily step aside.
“To allow a fair inquiry, I will voluntarily take a leave of absence from my post and am ready to fully cooperate with any and all proceedings,” Olaivar added.
A veteran public servant
According to his official DepEd profile, Olaivar has spent over two decades in public service.
A graduate of the University of the Philippines, he began his career at the Commission on Appointments in 2005 before moving to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in 2007, where he worked closely with then-Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer.
In 2012, he transitioned to the Senate, serving in various capacities until his appointment to DepEd.
DepEd faces challenges, reforms
The controversy comes at a crucial time for the education sector, as DepEd works to address classroom shortages, expand teacher recruitment, and implement reforms in the Senior High School (SHS) curriculum.
Just this week, Congress approved a P22.5-billion increase in DepEd’s 2026 budget to fund classroom construction and other key programs in line with President Marcos’s education agenda.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2025/09/25/deped-welcomes-p225b-budget-boost-for-classrooms-thanks-congress-for-supporting-marcos-education-agenda

Related Tags

DepEd Sonny Angara Trygve Olaivar DepEd Undersecretary flood control mess Senate Blue Ribbon Committee DPWH
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.