Marcos names ex-Sultan Kudarat gov as TESDA chief

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 6) — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. tapped former Sultan Kudarat Governor Suharto Mangudadatu to lead the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), the Presidential Communications Office announced on Tuesday.

The ex-governor will replace Danilo Cruz as director general of the agency.

Mangudadatu first served as local chief executive of Sultan Kudarat from July 2007 to June 2016. He then won another term spanning July 2019 to June 2022.

Before that, he represented the province in Congress from 2004 to 2007, and again from 2016 to 2019.

He was also mayor of the municipality of Lutayan from 1998 to 2004.

TESDA is an attached agency of the Department of Labor and Employment. Among its mandates are to integrate and monitor skills development programs, approve skills standards and tests, and fund programs for technical education and skills development.