THE COMMISSION on Appointments confirmed the appointment of Secretary William D. Dar as head of the Agriculture department.
“We believe that Secretary 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,” Senator Francis N. Pangilinan said in his co-sponsorship speech.
Mr. Dar was born into a family of farmers from Ilocos Sur and Tarlac. His father planted rice and vegetables and his mother sold their harvest when he was still a child, the lawmaker said.
The agriculture chief also sold sweet potato when he was a boy, he pointed out.
“The hardships and rewards of agriculture to the families who live off the land are in Secretary Dar’s blood,” he said.
Mr. Dar graduated with a degree in Agricultural Education from the then Mountain State Agricultural College, now the Benguet State University. Three years later, he graduated with a Master of Science in Agronomy from the same university.
He earned his PhD in Horticulture from the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, Laguna four years later, the youngest PhD graduate of the state university at that time at the age of 27, Mr. Pangilinan said.
Mr. Dar was Agriculture secretary from July 1998 to May 1999 under then President Joseph E. Estrada. He also served as presidential adviser on food security in 1999 and as executive director of the National Agricultural and Fishery Council in 1998. — NPA
