President Rodrigo Roa Duterte recently appointed two new undersecretaries at the Department of Agriculture (DA), who will assist Secretary William Dar in the continued implementation of the “OneDA” Reform Agenda to transform and modernize Philippine agriculture in the remaining months of the Duterte administration.

The new appointees are undersecretaries Dr. Fermin Adriano and Kristine Evangelista. Secretary Dar has designated Adriano as undersecretary for policy, planning, and research, while Evangelista, as undersecretary for consumer and political affairs, vice retired Dr. Ernesto Gonzales.

Secretary Dar also designated Rodolfo Vicerra as undersecretary for attached agencies and Department legislative liaison office.

Undersecretary Adriano, who previously served as senior policy advisor to secretary Dar, will oversee the agency’s policy formulation, planning, and research functions. He is also tasked to set up an effective program and project monitoring and evaluation system, lead a data analytics team, and craft agriculture and fishery programs and projects for possible funding by international financial institutions and donor countries.

Adriano also served as policy advisor to presidential advisers on the peace process, regional development, and on flagship programs and projects, and presidential assistant for Mindanao. He was also an agriculture and policy consultant at the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, US Agency for International Development, Canadian International Development Agency, Australian Agency for International Development, UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Ford Foundation, United Nations Development Programme, and The Asia Foundation.

Before her appointment as an undersecretary, Evangelista served as assistant secretary for agribusiness and marketing, tasked to ensure the availability, accessibility, and sustainability of food supplies in the country under the “Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita” marketing program. She will now oversee the consumer’s affairs group, chair the “Bantay-Presyo” advisory committee, and handle the Department’s political affairs.

For undersecretary Vicerra — who previously handled the policy, planning, and research group — he is now tasked to ensure that the DA attached agencies implement mandated programs, conforming with the “OneDA” Reform Agenda, and he will continue to head the Department’s legislative liaison office, providing the necessary linkages with both houses of Congress, particularly the respective committees on food and agriculture, and related committees.

Finally, secretary Dar also designated several key DA officials, namely:

• Rosanna Mula – OIC-director, Agricultural Training Institute (ATI);
• Antonieta Arceo – OIC-assistant director, ATI;
• Dennis Arpia – director for NCR;
• Rose Mary Aquino – regional technical director (RTD) for research and regulations, DA-Regional Field Office (RFO) 2;
• Eduardo Lapuz – RTD for operations and extension, DA-RFO 3;
• Arthur Dayrit – RTD for research, regulatory and integrated laboratory, DA- RFO 3;
• Gina Nilo – assistant director for operations, Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM); and
• Evelyn Fernando  – assistant director for administration and finance, BSWM. ### (Kuhlin Ceslie Gacula, DA-StratComms)