The newly appointed secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will focus on six major environment programs following the directive of President Aquino.

These programs include clean air and water especially in Metro Manila and in other urban centers; land productivity; enhancement of forest and marine resources with the completion of the delineation of forestline boundaries; an honest-to-goodness climate change mitigation, adaptation and anticipation program; and well-defined and effective anti-corruption measures.

DENR Secretary Ramon Paje, a top-rank career executive service officer (CESO), replaced Horacio Ramos, a fellow career officer, in a simple turnover ceremony held recently.

Paje said he will carry a leadership ethics marked with consultation, as shown by Ramos and his other predecessors whom he had the privilege of serving.

“I will be a listening secretary. I will afford everyone dissent,” he said, adding that Ramos’ ability to be a good and firm listener was a quality of a good leader.

Before his appointment as the DENR’s 19th secretary, Paje was the agency’s Undersecretary for Field Operations and the concurrent Executive Director of the Minerals Development Council under the Office of the President.

Paje’s ascension to the post marks only the second time in the DENR’s 23-year history to have the proverbial “bottom-to-top” success by a rank-and-file employee.

His 28-year career span started in 1982 as a junior forester conducting field inspection of reforestation projects of then Bureau of Forest Development (now Forest Management Bureau). He has then occupied various positions such as senior forester, service director, and assistant secretary prior to his appointment as undersecretary in 1998.

A recipient of a government scholarship, Paje graduated with a degree in BS Forestry in 1982 at the UP Los Baños. He then earned his masters in Urban and Regional Planning from UP-Diliman, and his doctorate in Public Administration at the same school. He has likewise taken short courses in Harvard University in Massachussets, USA and the Australian National University in Canberra.

Paje has also received various awards, including a Dr. Jose Rizal Huwarang Pilipino Award for Public Service in 1999, and being cited by the Philippine Jaycees as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men in 1996.