By Bernadette D. Nicolas & Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas
PRESIDENT Duterte has appointed William D. Dar, who has had extensive experience in both the local and foreign farm sector, as acting agriculture secretary to replace Emmanuel F. Piñol.
At the same time, the President has also chosen Court of Appeals Associate Justice Rodil Zalameda to be the new associate justice of the Supreme Court, filling the vacancy left by newly retired Mariano del Castillo.
Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea confirmed both appointments on Monday.
Asked to verify earlier reports of the appointments of Dar and Zalameda, Medialdea said in a text message to BusinessMirror: “Yes for Zalameda while Dar is Acting DA [Department of Agriculture] Sec.”
Dar replaces Piñol, who has been named by Duterte to become his point man in the Bangsamoro region.
Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III also welcomed on Monday Dar’s appointment to the agriculture department.
“William Dar has the educational qualifications, domestic and international experience in the field of Agriculture,” Dominguez told financial reporters in a Viber message.
Dar already served a one-year term as agriculture chief from 1998 to 1999 under the Estrada administration.
Under his watch, the agriculture sector posted a 9.6-percent growth, a feat that has never been equaled.
He was a former director general of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics. In his 15 years as director general of Icrisat, he also championed and institutionalized an overarching strategy called the Inclusive Market-Oriented Development, in which the farmers become active participants for their own welfare. Until now, he advocates the same strategy in pursuit of inclusive agribusiness in the country.
Dar was also the founding director of the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Agricultural Research in 1987-1994.
He also served as executive director of the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research in 1994 to 1998.
Meanwhile, Zalameda bested five other nominees by the the Judicial and Bar Council, namely, Court of Appeals Associate Justices Apolinario Bruselas Jr., Japar Dimaampao, Ramon Garcia, Jhosep Lopez and court administrator Jose Midas Marquez.
With reports from Rea Cu