FONDEVILLA

President Arroyo on Monday said that Undersecretary Bernie Fondevilla will replace Secretary Arthur Yap as head of the Department of Agriculture (DA) as the government steps up measures to combat the illeffects of El Niño phenomenon on the agriculture sector.

During a visit in Nueva Ecija, the President said that Fondevilla will take over the DA from Yap who is preparing for his congressional bid in the Third District of Bohol.

“Undersecretary Bernie Fondevilla will replace Secretary Arthur Yap. You will have a new person to talk to but our policies remain,” the President told farmers yesterday after inspecting an irrigation project in Guimba, Nueva Ecija.

Yap and Fondevilla accompanied the President at the start of her tour of North Luzon Agribusiness Quadrangle (NLAQ) to inspect  farm-related infrastructure projects amid the threat of El Niño phenomenon on food-producing provinces in the north.

Fondevilla served as the Agriculture Department’s chief of staff and executive director of the National Agriculture and Fisheries Council.

Yap is among the eight Cabinet members seeking public office who are considered resigned by the Supreme Court after they filed their certificates of candidacy last December.

Malacañang earlier said the President is ready to fill the Cabinet vacancies to ensure uninterrupted operations in affected departments.

With his new position at the helm of the DA, Fondevilla is expected to head the El Niño task force recently reactivated by the President to oversee the government's efforts to curb the impact of the dry spell on the agriculture sector.

In her remarks, the President said her government has made heavy investments on new roads, bridges, irrigation systems, among others, in NLAQ to boost agricultural production and support economic growth.

Mrs. Arroyo said the Casecnan Irrigation and Power Project in Nueva Ecija, which she inspected, covers thousands of hectares of farmlands that has so far protected the province from the dry spell triggered by El Niño phenomenon.

From 2001 to 2009, a total of 54,506 hectares of farmlands in the region were provided communal irrigation systems that also resulted to the rehabilitation of 669,916 hectares. These projects increased rice production in NLAQ by 39 percent, or from 5.21 metric tons in 2000 to 7.23 MT in 2008.

Meanwhile, Presidential Legal Adviser Raul Gonzalez has recommended former Justice Undersecretary Ernesto L. Pineda as successor of outgoing Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera.

However, Devanadera hinted to reporters that Solicitor General Alberto Agra may be appointed in her place.

When asked in a chance interview about Agra as her replacement, Devanadera said, “Most likely.”

At Monday’s flag-raising ceremony, Devanadera told department employees she will leave the DoJ anytime this week.

She had filed her resignation last Wednesday following the Supreme Court ruling that appointed government officials were considered resigned when they file their certificates of candidacies.

“Whenever I leave an office, I die a thousand deaths," Devanadera told DoJ prosecutors and employees. She thanked the entire DoJ and noted the many good policies and efforts of the DoJ prosecutors, officials and employees that led to many indictments of many individuals for various crimes and convictions. (With a report by Jeamma E. Sabate)