HON. JOSE FRANCISCO “KIKO” B. BENITEZ, Ph.D. is the Director General of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority with the rank of Secretary.

He served as Representative of the Third District of Negros Occidental in 2019-2024 and was a member of the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II). In the House, he held several key roles, leading policy discussions on a wide range of issues, from education reform to digital transformation, from circular economy to supply chain resilience, from housing finance and sustainable urbanization to creative industries and blue economy.

He is a principal author of landmark laws, including Republic Act (RA) No. 11648, which increases the age to determine statutory rape; RA No. 11899, which created EDCOM II; RA No. 11904, which aims to strengthen creative industries; RA No. 11995, which institutionalizes environmental-economic accounting in the country, and RA No. 12000, which created the Negros Island Region.

Secretary Benitez is a strong voice calling for paradigm shifts in education governance and development planning, stressing the need for systems thinking, design solutions, and innovation to ensure equity and sustainability, and address the demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

A literary scholar and educator by profession, Secretary Benitez was President of the Philippine Women’s University in 2010-2019. He earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in comparative literature (minor in Southeast Asian studies) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his B.A. in comparative literature (summa cum laude) and English (cum laude) from Cornell University.