President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed Bernie Cruz as acting secretary of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Malacañang confirmed Saturday.
Cruz was DAR undersecretary for foreign assisted and special projects office prior to his appointment on October 28.
“We are confident that Acting Secretary Cruz will continue to oversee the completion of DAR’s programs and projects in the remaining months of the current government,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said.
“We wish Acting Secretary Cruz all the best in his new assignment.”
Cruz replaced John Castriciones, who resigned earlier this month to seek a Senate seat in the May 2022 national and local elections.
Castriciones was supposed to run for the Senate in 2019, but he eventually decided to remain at the agency.
In a statement, Cruz said the DAR would “double its effort” to distribute all the remaining undistributed lands to the landless farmers, provide support services to agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) and bring social justice in agrarian communities.
Cruz said the government still has a balance of more than 700,000 hectares of agricultural lands.
“If these lands were awarded to qualified and deserving ARBs, the country would have a sustainable agricultural sector that would contribute in ensuring food security,” Cruz said.
“I am committed to bring industrialization in the agricultural sector and through provisions of support services such as various livelihood opportunities, infrastructure projects, farm machineries and equipment, capability building trainings, loan facilities, among other support, we can achieve a stable rural economy.” — VBL, GMA News
Duterte names Bernie Cruz as acting DAR chief
Source: Pinoy Hub News
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