By Liza Soriano
MANILA – Senator Sherwin Gatchalian has recommended Negros Occidental Third District Rep. Kiko Benitez to be the next Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) chief, saying that his long experience in the education field makes him the ‘perfect candidate’ to lead the agency.
This is following the resignation of TESDA Secretary Suharto Mangudadatu.
He believes that with Benitez at TESDA’s helm, the agency can make leaps in addressing challenges in the Technical and Vocational Educational and Training (TVET) sector, including the perennial issue of jobs-skills mismatch.
“As a lifelong educator, a top-performing legislator, and one of the most hardworking commissioners of the EDCOM II, Congressman Kiko Benitez will give TESDA the needed leadership to foster innovation, push for needed reforms, and produce job-ready TVET graduates,” said Gatchalian.
Benitez is one of the commissioners of the Second Congressional Commission on Education, where he also serves as a co-chairperson of the Standing Committee on Early Childhood Care and Development and Basic Education.
He was also the President of the Philippine Women’s University from 2010 to 2019.
The lawmaker also taught at universities such as the University of Washington-Seattle, the University of Asia & the Pacific, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Cornell University.
(ia/mnm)
