Ex-DepEd undersecretary Kris Ablan appointed to DTI

MANILA, Philippines – Former Department of Education undersecretary Kris Ablan, who was tagged in the controversy surrounding the fire sale in retail and online stores of DepEd laptops intended for public school teachers, has a new government post.

The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) announced on Wednesday, December 6, that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appointed Ablan as assistant secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

Malacañang also promoted DTI Assistant Secretary Mary Jean Pacheco to undersecretary.

Ablan joined Department of Education in 2022, under the leadership of Vice President Sara Duterte.

Since December 2022, Rappler tried to get in touch with him to ask about about the agency’s supposed inability to pay on-time a logistics firm in-charge of fast-tracking the delivery of laptops.

This resulted in a string of new problems, including the blatant sale of the laptops by other subcontractors.

Ablan was not yet part of DepEd when the contract with the company named Transpac was signed, but its implementation spilled over into the Duterte-led DepEd. Transpac’s demand letter in November 2022 was addressed to him, given that his unit was in charge of the matter.

He resigned from the DepEd in May but told Philstar.com that this had “nothing to do with the laptop or Transpac reports of Rappler,” and promised to “answer point by point the issues raised by those reports in order to clear my name.”

During the Rodrigo Duterte administration, Ablan held numerous posts at the Presidential Communications Operations Office, such as undersecretary, assistant secretary, and acting deputy presidential spokesperson. – Rappler.com