President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. has appointed four more top officials at the Department of Agriculture, virtually filling up all top vacant positions in DA.
Appointed were DA National Rice Program Undersecretary Christopher Morales, Cheryl Marie NatividadpCaballero as Undersecretary for High Value Crops, academician Dexter Respicio Buted, former president of the Pangasinan State University as board member of the Philippine Coconut Authority and businessman Joseph Rudolph Chan Lo as director IV to assist the Office of Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. on various concerns.
The President also appointed Telma Cueva Tolentino as assistant secretary for finance; Constante de Jesus Palabrica, assistant secretary; Ernesto Celosa Enriquez, director IV for internal audit service; Larry del Rosario Lacson, director IV and Abbey Charles Fabian Gawaran, director III, DA Regional Director for Region XI.
Backgrounds
Morales, an agricultural engineer from the University of the Philippines, is returning to the DA coming from the Department of Tourism where he was assistant secretary running the agri-tourism projects of said department.
He has a master's degree in development studies from the Erasmus University-Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
In his previous DA stint, Morales served as director of the disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) operations center and other offices like the Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service (AMAS), the Philippine Rural Development Project, Field Operations Service and the Policy and Planning Office.
Natividad-Caballero, a sociology and psychology major from UP, where she also earned a master’s degree in technology management, previously served as DA undersecretary for agri-industrialization and fisheries and adviser to many agricultural projects, including the Department of Tourism’s National Farm Tourism Strategic Plan, the special committee on the North Luzon Growth Quadrangle, and Phiippine Rice Research Institute.
Dr. Dexter Respicio Buted, appointed as PCA board member, was formerly president of Pangasinan State University.
Businessman Joseph Rudolph Chan Lo was appointed director IV and will assist the Secretary on various concerns. Lo, a graduate of management economics from Ateneo de Manila University, with honors, has diverse business interests in Cebu.
Also appointed by President Marcos to various positions in the DA were the following:
– Telma Cueva Tolentino, assistant secretary for finance
– Constante de Jesus Palabrica, assistant secretary
– Ernesto Celosa Enriquez, director IV for Internal Audit Service
– Larry del Rosario Lacson, director IV
– Abbey Charles Fabian Gawaran, director III, DA regional technical director for Region XI
Meanwhile, Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. has designated Jerome Oliveros as undersecretary for special concerns and for official development assistance, and DA assistant secretary/spokesman Arnel de Mesa as Oliveros’ deputy.
As undersecretary for Special Concerns and for ODA, Oliveros shall oversee the development and implementation of agricultural policies and projects for the benefit of the disadvantaged such as cultural community groups, children and persons with disabilities, as well as identify and coordinate project proposals for possible foreign aid, grant or loan, except for three ongoing World Bank-assisted projects.
The three WB-assisted projects are the Philippine Rural Development Project Additional Financing System 2 and Scale-up, Mindanao Inclusive Agricultural Development Project, and the Philippine Fisheries and Coastal Resiliency Project. These projects were left under the supervision of the DA undersecretary for operations.
Asec De Mesa shall provide technical and administrative support to Oliveros for both ODA and other Special Concerns.
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