GMA names former DA chief as adviser on jobs creation

He’s back.

President Arroyo has appointed former agriculture secretary Arthur Yap as her new adviser for job creation, Malacañang announced yesterday.

Yap’s new position puts him back in the President’s Cabinet with the rank of secretary.

Yap, a former student of Mrs. Arroyo, was one of the first Cabinet members to resign out of delicadeza (sense of decency) after tax evasion charges were filed against his family.

In a statement, the Palace said the President signed Yap’s appointment paper on Dec. 16 and this was released yesterday.

The President signed on Dec. 5 Executive Order 475 creating the Office of the Presidential Adviser for Job Creation (OPJAC), defining this OPJAC’s mandate, powers and functions.

The Palace said the President felt the need to create an office that would be responsible for coordinating, monitoring and evaluating the government’s programs for job creation, support for entrepreneurs, agribusiness land development and making food plentiful at reasonable prices with other government, non-government and private sector entities.

The OPJAC will consolidate the job generation and food security programs implemented by various government agencies for greater focus to ensure that the intended beneficiaries receive the benefits of these programs.

As agriculture secretary, Yap led efforts to fulfill the President’s commitment to develop two million hectares of agribusiness lands by 2010.

He also developed programs to increase food production and market access to farmers, as well as open up urban markets directly to food producers in an effort to lower food prices.

Under Yap’s stewardship, the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the private sector began selling pre-packaged vegetables in half kilos under the "May Gulay" brand for P25 per pack. — Aurea Calica