SEARCA Alumnus named Phl Socio-Economic Planning Secretary

Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III recently appointed former SEARCA Director and alumnus Dr. Arsenio M. Balisacan as acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and Director General of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

Along with this appointment, Dr. Balisacan will also chair the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), and Philippine Center for Economic Development (PCED). He will serve as vice-chair of the NEDA Board, the Philippines’ highest development planning and policy coordinating body chaired by the President.

A leading agricultural and development economist in the Southeast Asian region, Dr. Balisacan’s expertise focused on poverty, inequality, agricultural and regional development, sustainable development, and political economy of policy reforms. He had served as SEARCA’s Director for six years, from 2003 to 2009, with which he led the Center in crafting the Center’s Eighth and Ninth Five-Year Plans (covering fiscal years 2004/2005-2008/2009 and 2009/2010-2013/2014).

Dr. Balisacan is likewise the name behind a number of international journal articles and publications which include “The Dynamics of Regional Development: The Philippines in East Asia (Edward Elgar, UK, with H. Hill),” “Reasserting the Rural Development Agenda: Lessons Learned and Emerging Challenges in Asia” (ISEAS, Singapore and SEARCA, with N. Fuwa), and “The Philippine Economy: Development, Policies, and Challenges” (Oxford University Press, with H. Hill). He is also the founding Editor of the Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development, SEARCA’s international refereed journal.

After completing his SEARCA directorship, Dr. Balisacan returned to the academe as dean of the University of the Philippines School of Economics (UPSE) in Diliman, a position he held until he was appointed to succeed NEDA chief Dr. Cayetano W. Paderanga, Jr., who is also his colleague in the UPSE, when the latter resigned due to health reasons.

Dr. Balisacan graduated magna cum laude at the Mariano Marcos State University with a degree in agriculture in 1979. He obtained his master’s degree in Agricultural Economics at UP Los Baños in 1982 under the SEARCA-German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) scholarship program. Three years after, he earned his doctorate in economics at the University of Hawaii.

SEARCA Alumna receives Outstanding Faculty and Veterinarian Awards

On 12 April 2012, Dr. Clarissa Yvonne J. Domingo, an Associate Professor of the College of Veterinary Science and Medicine of CLSU and a 2009 SEARCA alumnus (PhD Research), was recognized as the 2012 OUTSTANDING FACULTY (LEVEL II) by the Central Luzon State University where she has been teaching for almost 29 years. Similarly, on 16 February 2012, she was also recognized as the 2012 PVMA OUTSTANDING VETERINARIAN IN EDUCATION during the 79th Philippine Veterinary Medical Association (PVMA) Scientific Conference and Annual Convention held at the L’Fisher Hotel, Bacolod City, Negros Occidental.

For the last two years, Dr. Domingo has also been a recipient of several awards such as:  the 2011 BEST PAPER AWARD (Disease & Diagnostic Category) entitled “Human and Caprine Cryptosporidiosis Among Smallhold Farmers in Aurora Province” during the 48th Philippine Society of Animal Science (PSAS) National and 28th Visayas Scientific Seminar and Annual Convention last October 26-28, 2011 held at L’Fisher Hotel, Bacolod City. She was also recognized as the 2010 OUTSTANDING VETERINARIAN IN VETERINARY RESEARCH during the 38th Annual Veterinary Practitioners Association of the Philippines (VPAP)  Scientific Conference last June 10, 2010 held at Heritage Hotel, Pasay City.

Dr. Domingo has been a Faculty of CLSU-CVSM since 1983. She finished her DVM, MPH and Doctor of Public Health from the University of the Philippines.

SEARCA Alumnus appointed as Indonesia’s Deputy Minister of Education and Culture

After serving as Rector of Andalas University in West Sumatra Indonesia for more than six years, Prof. Dr. Musliar Kasim has been appointed by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as one of the Deputy Ministers of Education and Culture in October 2011.  As part of the Second United Indonesian Cabinet, Dr. Kasim will be in charge of the education component of the Ministry, while Dr. Wiendu Nuryanti is in charge of cultural affairs.

Dr. Kasim graduated with a PhD in Agronomy at the University of the Philippines Los Baños, in 1991 under the SEARCA - German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Scholarship program. He holds an MS and BS from Institut Pertanian Bogor and Andalas University, respectively.

Source: http://www.indonesiavancouver.org/news-a-articles/693-president-installs-new-ministers-deputy-ministers