The "palakasan" or "padrino system" of the hiring process in the Department of Education (DepEd) will end, said Vice President and concurrent Education Secretary Sara Duterte on Friday, September 8, in front of more than 3,000 teachers and personnel of the Negros Occidental Schools Division, to end such a culture.

According to Duterte, DepEd’s vision is to provide innovative and long-term solutions to basic education challengers, ensuring an objective selection process for hiring and promoting personnel.

She said that this kind of system has closed doors to more competent, deserving, and qualified applicants.

During the National Teachers’ Month celebration at the Panaad Sports Complex in Bacolod City, the Vice President tackled her plans to ease the workload of public school teachers, announcing the reduction of their administrative tasks from 56 to 11.

She also assured them of a 30-day straight break after the school year.

The education secretary added that the DepEd is now working on launching a website to give teachers legal assistance for financial loan contract problems, saying that the initiatives are a testament to the understanding of the challenges faced by the teachers and the determination to make sure that they will focus on doing their best in teaching.