PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. reappointed Prospero De Vera III as chairman of the Commission on Higher Education, Malacanang announced on Saturday.

De Vera was initially appointed as chairman of the commission in 2018 under former President Rodrigo Duterte until his term expired last Thursday.

He served as CHED commissioner from September 2016 until January 2018, when he was appointed as officer-in-charge of the agency, replacing former chairperson Patricia Licuanan.

Prior to his appointment to the commission, he served as Vice President for Public Affairs of the University of the Philippines from 2011-2016 and professor of Public Administration.

Likewise, De Vera is the chairman of the Unified Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education and Commissioner of UNESCO.

He steered the governance of all the Board of Regents and Trustees of all state universities and colleges including UP and Mindanao State University as a CHED chief.

As UNIFAST chairman, he ensured the implementation of the most important social legislation under the Duterte administration – the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education or Free Higher Education law.

Further, De Vera guided the higher education system during the Covid19 pandemic by working with the education stakeholders in adopting a flexible learning system and ensuring the inclusion of higher education issues at the highest levels of government as a member of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases.