Pangilinan announces new NFA, PCA heads
Former Sen. Francis Pangilinan. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Presidential assistant Francis Pangilinan announced Tuesday the appointment of new heads at the National Food Authority and the Philippine Coconut Authority as he firms up his leadership over four of the government’s biggest agricultural agencies.
Pangilinan, who is presidential assistant for food security and agricultural modernization, said in a press statement that Arthur O. Juan, a former president of subsidiaries of San Miguel Corp., assumed office as NFA administrator on Monday, June 23.
As chief of the NFA, Juan concurrently sits as a member of the NFA Council – the same body that elected him administrator.
“[Juan’s] experience and expertise having run a national food conglomerate will be a great help in ensuring that NFA is managed efficiently and effectively,” Pangilinan said.
According to the former senator’s office, Juan has worked in the private sector both here and abroad, with focus on the agro-industrial side for almost 20 years.
Article continues after this advertisementThis included a stint as president of San Miguel Foods Inc. from 2005 to 2009 and of Monterey Foods Corp. from 1999 to 2003.
Article continues after this advertisementRomulo Arancon Jr., a 17-year veteran of the Philippine Coconut Authority, assumed office Tuesday following his election as administrator during a meeting of the PCA governing board.
“Arancon has been with PCA for many years now and he is undeniably fit for the position,” Pangilinan said. “He will be able to manage the agency very well, as he is very familiar with the workings in the coconut industry.”
Some of the responsibilities that Arancon held with the PCA include being director of the agency’s Extension Training Center and as Acting Regional Director of the PCA in Davao.
More recently, before his newest job, Arancon served about eight years as executive director of the Asian and Pacific Coconut Community, a Jakarta-based inter-governmental body that is linked with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.
Two other agencies – the National Irrigation Administration and the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority – are also under Pangilinan’s office.
When Pangilinan’s appointment was announced last month, then NFA Administrator Orlan Calayag and PCA Administrator Euclides Forbes promptly submitted their resignation.
NIA Administrator Claro V. Maranan said he would not follow suit because resigning “is inappropriate.”
For his part, FPA executive director Norlito R. Gicana said his agency operated differently compared to the NFA, PCA and NIA which are corporate organizations.
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