Dar named agri chief; Avisado to head DBM
Julie M. Aurelio and Karl R. Ocampo | Philippine Daily Inquirer | August 6, 2019
President Duterte has appointed agriculture expert William Dar as his new agriculture secretary and former Davao City administrator Wendel Avisado as acting budget secretary.
The appointments were disclosed to the media on Monday and confirmed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea.
Earlier in the day, Medialdea said the Office of the President “has received several recommendations [ on the agriculture portfolio], but the President has yet to decide on these.”
Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said he heard about Dar’s appointment but preferred that the President himself announced it.
Later Monday, Panelo qualified Avisado’s appointment as being in an acting capacity, whereas Dar’s is an ad interim appointment pending confirmation from the Commission on Appointments.
“Dar permanent, Avisado acting secretary,” Panelo said in a text message when sought for clarification.
Dar replaces Emmanuel Piñol, who resigned on June 27 but also sought to be transferred to the Mindanao Development Authority, which Mr. Duterte approved last month.
In a phone interview some time before his oath-taking on Monday, Dar, 66, said he was “still in the dark actually” about his appointment. “I was only told to come to Malacañang but I don’t want to assume,” he said.
‘Time to serve country’
Dar also said, “This is again the time to really serve the country and the farmers.”
The new Cabinet appointee, who hails from Ilocos Sur, earned his college and doctoral degrees at the University of the Philippines Los Baños, where he pursued studies in horticulture.
In 1987, Dar became the first director of the Department of Agriculture’s new research arm at the time, the Bureau of Agricultural Research.
Awards
He was chosen as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men that year for his work in agriculture. Three years later, he received the Outstanding Young Scientist of the Year award from the National Academy of Science and Technology.
In 1998, Dar briefly served as then President Joseph Estrada’s acting agriculture secretary and, subsequently, presidential adviser on food security.
The next year, Dar became the first Filipino director general of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, an Indiabased global agricultural crop research institute.
Dar had previously served as executive director of the Los Baños-based Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development. The council is the sectoral planning body of the Department of Science and Technology.
He is also president of the Inang lupa Movement, which pursues poverty reduction and food security, among other economic advocacies.
“William Dar has the educational qualifications, domestic and international experience in the field of agriculture,” Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said.
City administrator
Avisado served as Davao City administrator from 2004 to 2010 during Mr. Duterte’s mayoral term there.
In 2010, Avisado was appointed by the Aquino administration as an assistant secretary on the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, then led by Vice President Jejomar Binay.
In December 2016, Mr. Duterte’s first year as President, Avisado was appointed as presidential assistant tasked with overseeing the implementation of housing projects for survivors of the 2013 Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan).
Mr. Duterte had earlier said he would not make a “regular appointment” at the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) after his appointment of then budget chief Benjamin Diokno as governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
He instead appointed then Budget Undersecretary Janet Abuel as officer in charge at the DBM. She had been serving in that capacity until Avisado’s appointment on Monday.
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