 |
| The
Honorable ARTHUR C. YAP |
| Secretary |
| Department
of Agriculture |
|
Secretary Arthur Cua Yap was appointed
as the head of the Department of Agriculture on October 18, 2005. He is the 32nd
agriculture secretary as he holds this secretarial position for the second time.
He was the 15th head of the Presidential Management Staff. His first government job was
with the Philippine International Trading Corporation of the DTI in 2001. Thereafter, he
served as the Administrator of the National Food Authority, after which was a brief stint
as the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture. In December 2005, Sec. Yap was
appointed Presidential Adviser for Job Creation, which he continues to hold now that he is
the Director General of the PMS. President Arroyo appointed him to the post on May 3,
2006.
The President also designated Sec. Yap as the Development Champion for the North Luzon
Agribusiness Quadrangle (NLAQ). As such, he oversees and ensures the smooth implementation
of NLAQ development projects.
One of the youngest Cabinet members, Art or SACY (the acronym of his name, with S meaning
"Secretary"), as referred to by his colleagues and staff in PMS, owing to his
being the Jobs Czar, brings back to PMS the job generation portfolio which he said is a
pillar project for the legacy program that the President wants PMS to do.
A lawyer by profession, Sec. Yap holds a Juris Doctor's degree at the School of Law of the
Ateneo de Manila University. He was also a Dean's lister when he took up an A.B. Honors
Degree in Management and Economics at the same university where he was fortunate to have
had President Arroyo as his economics professor.
Before his appointment as President and CEO of the PITC, Sec. Yap was affiliated with the
Yap, Jacinto, Jacob Law Office as Co-Founding Partner. He was also an associate lawyer of
two more law firms namely: the Axucna, Yorac, Sarmiento, Arroyo & Chua Law Offices and
the Balane, Barican, Cruz & Alampay Law Offices. He was once the National President of
the Philippine Association of Paint Manufacturers. |
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