Negros Occidental Schools Division Superintendent Emolyn Corteza has asked the Department of Education to assign her to another division.

Corteza wrote to Gov. Joseph Marañon yesterday saying that, as of the last week of November 2005, she had made arrangements with the DepEd Central Office through Undersecretary Ramon Bacani for her reassignment to another division.

On Dec. 22, Marañon had informed the media that he had asked OIC Education Secretary Fe Hidalgo to replace Corteza as provincial schools superintendent, saying she was no longer physically fit to do her job after she suffered a stroke.

Marañon yesterday stressed that he had nothing personal against Corteza and had, in fact, given her time to recover but at the end of the day, as a leader, he had to make a decision for the good of his constituents.

The governor said that if he had received Corteza's letter informing him that she had sought a transfer earlier, he would not have publicly announced his request for her transfer.

The governor said Hidalgo, who had earlier informed him that she would visit Negros this week, has rescheduled her visit to early next year.

Corteza said she had her clearances prepared for her transfer and it was not difficult to do since she does not have any fund accountability, not even a single suspension or disallowance.

"If this impending transfer was not made public, it was because reshuffling plans for other superintendents were not yet finalized. Media releases informing the public that you are asking the education department to have me replaced would have been no longer necessary," she said.

If this had happened, the issue on Christian charity, ethics and professionalism need not have been raised by some quarters, she added.

She said her office staff has been instructed to say "no comment" when interviewed "in the spirit of Christmas which is peace, love, and goodwill to mankind."

Corteza also told the governor that she agrees wholeheartedly with him that now that she is physically infirmed she should be replaced.

"Anyway, I have already given Negros seven and a half years of the best of my productive years and the reputation the division widely enjoys attest to this," she said.

"Going by how the provincial government defines a superintendent as good/desirable, definitely I have already outlived by usefulness," she said.

But she said DepEd has a different set of criteria, which is integrity, honesty, dedication, competence, passion for the job and dynamism.

It is because of this criteria that the DepEd "has maintained its faith in my usefulness and the contributions I can still make," she said.

Corteza said that, in her last year of public service, she realizes that although the job undertaking of a new assignment so late in her life would take Herculean efforts and be most stressful, she must move on to a place where she can find "peace, love and unconditional acceptance."*CPG

back to top