CA confirms Estrella as DAR Secretary
The Commission on Appointments (CA) on Tuesday, September 27, 2022, confirmed the ad interim appointment of Conrado M. Estrella III as Secretary of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).
Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, chairperson of the Commission on Appointments, presided over the 7th plenary session of the CA in the 1st regular session of the 19th Congress.
“I pledged that I shall not be an armchair executive. I shall bring government closer to the people,” Estrella earlier said during the CA committee on agrarian reform hearing.
The CA received expressions and manifestations of support and did not receive any opposition to Estrella’s confirmation.
Senators Nancy Binay, Loren Legarda, Cynthia Villar, Jinggoy Estrada, Christopher “Bong” Go, Francis Tolentino, and Allan Peter Cayetano; Congressmen Ramon Guico, Jr., Rodante Marcoleta, Johnny Pimentel, Jose Gay Padiernos, Albert Garcia, Greg Gasataya, and Manuel Jose Dalipe expressed their support for the confirmation of Estrella’s appointment.
Estrella is an AB history and political science graduate with a Master's degree in Development Management.
He first served as a provincial board member at the age of 19 and was Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture and Agrarian Reform from 1980-1985.
Estrella was elected to the House of Representatives from 1987 to 2010, representing Pangasinan's 6th District. In the 8th Congress, he was one of the youngest elected representatives at the age of 26. During this time, he became an active member of the Committee on Agrarian Reform.
Among the bills, he filed include proposals to strengthen the resiliency of farmers against climate change, improve the financing system for farmers and fisherfolk, and establish "instructional gardening programs" in all elementary and secondary schools in the Philippines.
In 2013, he became the party-list representative of Abono, succeeding his brother Robert Raymond Estrella. As the representative of the Abono party list, he ensured that the needs of those in the agricultural sector are not neglected.