CA confirms Dar as Agriculture chief

FILE: Agriculture Secretary William Dar (center) during an interview with reporters on the sidelines of the Philippines-India Trade Consultations at the Makati Shangri-la Hotel on Friday (Oct. 18, 2019). (PNA photo by Gil Calinga)

MANILA — The Commission on Appointments (CA) on Tuesday confirmed the ad interim appointment of William Dar as Secretary of the Department of Agriculture.

President Rodrigo Duterte appointed Dar as DA chief in August after former Secretary Emmanuel Piñol was named the chairman of the Mindanao Development Authority.

Senators Cynthia Villar and Francis Pangilinan were among those who recommended the confirmation of the 66-year-old horticulturist as Agriculture secretary.

Villar pointed out that Dar’s “return” to the DA is “perfect timing.”

“It could not have come at the most opportune time. The department in this junction of time needs a leader like him,” she said.

“I believe the department is ready to be under the tutelage and leadership of Secretary Dar once again,” Villar said.

Meanwhile, Pangilinan said Dar’s background — both in his personal history and in his professional experience — would do well in the job for the benefit of millions of Filipinos who work in agriculture.

Besides excelling in the academe, the lawmaker pointed out that Dar became the first director of the Philippine Bureau of Agricultural Research in 1988, and later on was designated director of the Philippine Council for Agricultural Research and Rural Development in 1994.

“He served as (DA) Acting Secretary from 1998 to 1999, whereby as earlier mentioned and we will reiterate, Philippine agriculture grew by an unprecedented 9.6 percent, as well as experienced a commendable 87 percent drop in graft and corruption incidence at the Department,” he said.

After his brief first stint at the DA, Dar was named director-general of the India-based International Center for Research in the Semi-arid Tropics (ICRISAT) from 1999 to 2014, earning the distinction as the first Filipino and the first Asian to hold the said position, and also the only Filipino who served as the head of a global agricultural research institute.

“Like a nurtured plant, this experience strengthened our belief that we can work closely and effectively with Secretary Dar as we aim to rebuild Philippine agriculture; secure the livelihood and increased incomes for our farmers, fisherfolk, and agriculture workers; and ensure that no Filipino family will ever go hungry,” Pangilinan said.

Dar graduated with a degree in Agricultural Education from the then-Mountain State Agricultural College, now the Benguet State University. He later graduated with a Master of Science in Agronomy from the same university.

Dar earned his Ph.D. in Horticulture from the University of the Philippines in Los Baños at age 27 — the youngest Ph.D. graduate of UPLB at that time.