Untitled Document


Jesli A. Lapus is the Philippine Secretary of Education. He heads the biggest department in the Philippine bureaucracy. Under his watch, the Department of Education (DepEd) registered unprecedented achievements, such as the highest public approval rating among government agencies, breakthrough student ratings in achievement measurements (NAT), highest mobilization of resources for education, and management and education reforms recognized by the World Bank as international “best practices”. For these and other achievements, Secretary Lapus has been recognized as a top performing Cabinet Secretary. Prior to his stint as DepEd secretary, Secretary Lapus served for three terms as a member of the Philippine House of Representatives (1998-2007). In Congress, he exposed the infamous multi-billion peso automatic payroll deductions scheme at the Department of Education which had adversely affected the net take home pay of some 300,000 public school teachers. For this he was called a “Champion of Public School Teachers” by teachers’ associations. Prior to his stint in Congress, Secretary Lapus was a top professional manager in the private (Manufacturing, Financial Services and International Trade) and the public sector (Developmental Work and Rural Finance). For his competence and advocacy work, he was invited to serve in the cabinets of two previous presidents (Presidents Aquino and Ramos). Secretary Lapus has a CPA, MBA, and DPA. He was a member of the original core faculty of the Asian Institute of Management’s Master in Development Management Program, and he has taught for many years at the Ateneo de Manila University and Maryknoll College. He has also conducted Executive Training Courses in Indonesia and Malaysia. A tri-media practitioner, Secretary Lapus has been a columnist in major dailies and a TV show host, and he now has a regular weekly radio program over a leading nationwide station.

Jesli A. Lapus is the Philippine Secretary of Education. He heads the biggest department in the Philippine bureaucracy. Under his watch, the Department of Education (DepEd) registered unprecedented achievements, such as the highest public approval rating among government agencies, breakthrough student ratings in achievement measurements (NAT), highest mobilization of resources for education, and management and education reforms recognized by the World Bank as international “best practices”. For these and other achievements, Secretary Lapus has been recognized as a top performing Cabinet Secretary.

Prior to his stint as DepEd secretary, Secretary Lapus served for three terms as a member of the Philippine House of Representatives (1998-2007). In Congress, he exposed the infamous multi-billion peso automatic payroll deductions scheme at the Department of Education which had adversely affected the net take home pay of some 300,000 public school teachers. For this he was called a “Champion of Public School Teachers” by teachers’ associations.

Prior to his stint in Congress, Secretary Lapus was a top professional manager in the private (Manufacturing, Financial Services and International Trade) and the public sector (Developmental Work and Rural Finance). For his competence and advocacy work, he was invited to serve in the cabinets of two previous presidents (Presidents Aquino and Ramos).

Secretary Lapus has a CPA, MBA, and DPA. He was a member of the original core faculty of the Asian Institute of Management’s Master in Development Management Program, and he has taught for many years at the Ateneo de Manila University and Maryknoll College. He has also conducted Executive Training Courses in Indonesia and Malaysia.

A tri-media practitioner, Secretary Lapus has been a columnist in major dailies and a TV show host, and he now has a regular weekly radio program over a leading nationwide station.