Pres. Marcos approves appointment of DA officials

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has approved the appointment of several officials of the Department of Agriculture.

Designated as Undersecretary of the DA’s National Rice Program is Christopher Morales while Cheryl Marie Natividad-Caballero was appointed Undersecretary for High Value Crops.

Morales, an agricultural engineer from the University of the Philippines-Los Banos with a master’s degree in development studies from Erasmus University-Rotterdam in The Netherlands, was assistant secretary of the Department of Tourism and previously served as director of DA’s disaster risk reduction and management operations center. He also served in other DA offices including the Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service, Philippine Rural Development Project, Field Operations Service, and 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. She also served as adviser and consultant to various agricultural projects, including the Department of Tourism’s National Farm Tourism Strategic Plan, the special committee on the North Luzon Growth Quadrangle, and PhilRice.

Dexter Respicio Buted was appointed to the board of the Philippine Coconut Authority. Buted was a former 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