Source: The Manila Times, 14 May 2012
By Mayvelin U. Caraballo
The National Economic and Development Authority is looking forward to the leadership of its newly appointed acting Director General Dr. Arsenio Balisacan, a NEDA official said over the weekend.
Balisacan, the dean of the University of the Philippines School of Economics (UPSE) was recently appointed by President Benigno Aquino 3rd as the acting director general of NEDA.
“Being the renowned economic expert that he [Balisacan] is and probably the country’s foremost expert on inclusive growth, we look forward to rallying behind him and supporting him as we did Paderanga,” said Ruperto Majuca, NEDA officer in charge and deputy director general for planning, referring to Cayetano Paderanga, the erstwhile head of the agency.
According to a Palace statement, President Aquino signed the appointment letter of Balisacan on May 10, following the resignation of Paderanga Jr. who cited health reasons for his resignation.
Balisacan is acknowledged in Asia as a leading expert on poverty and known as a leading development economist in Southeast Asia.
Prior to his UPSE deanship, Balisacan was the director-chief executive of the Southeast Asian Regional Centre for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture from 2003 to 2009, and undersecretary of the Department of Agriculture in 2000, 2001 and 2003.
While serving as Agriculture undersecretary, he was the country’s chief negotiator in the Agriculture Negotiations of the World Trade Organization and in various bilateral agriculture negotiations. Prior to joining the UP, he was a research fellow at the East West Center in Honolulu, and an economist at the World Bank in Washington, D.C.
Author and co-author of several books on the Philippine economy, poverty, and rural development, Balisacan has served as president of various professional organizations, including Philippine Economic Society, Human Development Network, and Asian Society of Agricultural Economists.
He also holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Hawaii, a Master’s degree in Agricultural Economics from UP Los Baños, and a Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture (magna cum laude) from the Mariano Marcos State University.
Balisacan leaves his academic post for this new appointment, saying that he would build on the achievements and reforms paved by Paderanga.
He said that Paderanga has led in instituting changes in the planning, investment programming and monitoring and evaluation processes within NEDA and the government.
“We will build on these reforms as we focus on reducing poverty and attaining inclusive growth that leaves no one behind,” he said.
Moreover, as acting Socioeconomic Planning secretary and NEDA director general, Balisacan will concurrently chair the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), and Philippine Center for Economic Development (PCED).
Balisacan will also be the vice chairman of the NEDA Board, the country’s highest development planning and policy coordinating body chaired by the President, as well as head of several interagency committees under the NEDA Board.
Meanwhile, Paderanga said that NEDA will be in good hands with Balisacan.
“I am grateful to the President not only for giving me the opportunity to serve the Cabinet for the second time, but also for understanding the reasons why I decided to leave,” said Paderanga.
