Arroyo creates Palace office for agricultural adviser

More than a month after appointing former Bulacan Rep. Angelito Sarmiento (Lakas) as among her Cabinet-rank advisers, President Arroyo has created for him the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Agricultural Modernization (OPAAM).

The OPAAM, under the Office of the President, was established through Executive Order No. 8 signed on March 26, a copy of which was obtained by The STAR.

In justifying the creation of this new office, Mrs. Arroyo cited the "need for a ... body that shall coordinate, on behalf of the President, the thrust of agricultural modernization."

The creation of OPAAM was apparently aimed at delineating the functions and powers of Sarmiento, who has kept a safe distance from Agriculture Secretary Leonardo Montemayor to avoid possible conflict of jurisdiction.

What kept the peace between the two Arroyo officials was the fact that both of them were former colleagues in Congress, Montemayor being the sectoral representative for farmers.

During the Estrada administration, there developed a subsequent turf war between then Agriculture Secretary William Dar and then adviser on food security Edgardo Angara, who later took over Dar’s post.

In EO No. 8, Mrs. Arroyo tasked the OPAAM to coordinate with the Department of Agriculture and seven other departments in the implementation of policies and programs related to her administration’s "agricultural modernization founded on social equity."

The government campaign is aimed "to win the battle against poverty within the decade."

Sarmiento was also directed to monitor and recommend policies, programs and other measures relating to agricultural modernization and to "unify and converge" the same of different government agencies.

The OPAAM is the second newest office created in the OP since Mrs. Arroyo took over Malacañang last Jan. 20.

Last month, she issued EO No. 1 establishing the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Indigenous People’s Rights headed by former Ambassador Howard Dee.

The President invoked her powers under the 1987 Administrative Code which she said gave her continuing authority to reorganize her office. – Marichu Villanueva